Southern Anthem
by Sleepy Lotus
Summary: Believing Sookie will return someday, devious Eric acquires her ancestral home, plotting to make her his for good. Hiring the handsome werewolf Alcide to make repairs, however, proves a misstep for the vampire. Sookie/Alcide/Eric.
1. Prologue: Puppy Love

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/n: I know I have a few hanging fics out there … ::ducks thrown tomatoes:: but this is what I'm feeling at the moment. Digging around, I haven't found too many good Sookie/Alcide fics out there. (If you know any, please, recommend). They'd make a good match, really. ::ducks more tomatoes, rotten vegetables, chicken:: I hope you enjoy my imagination's wandering. :)

_"And when that southern anthem sings, she will lay her burdens down…"_

_Iron and Wine  
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Prologue: When She Comes Home

She wasn't dead.

This was a belief Alcide held deep in his bones, about Sookie Stackhouse. She was too clever, too scrappy. Too _good _to have fallen to darkness just yet. He couldn't bring himself to think the worst, as the others were all too happy to do.

He felt as a medieval monk illuminating a text. Labor as meditation. With every stroke of the saw, every nail driven, he said a prayer to whoever might be listening to bring her home. Maybe even to her, herself. A plea set loose upon the wind.

_Come home, Sookie. Come home_.

Alcide was not the only one who still believed.

He'd been surprised, to say the least, when Eric Northman knocked upon the door of his new home in Shreveport, not so long ago. A sinking feeling overtook the werewolf at sight of the ancient vampire leaning against his door jam, a tower of black leather and smug self satisfaction. Not many men could look down upon Alcide, nor set him on edge in such a way.

_Herveaux, welcome to our fair city._

A cold underlay the vampire's tone as a lake frozen over in winter, beneath the ice and snow waited waters frigid and threatening.

_What do you want, Northman?_ He'd demanded immediately, disinterested in banter, false pleasantry. The vampire no longer held his father's gambling debt, thank god, and for once Alcide felt as though he may be able to face this trickster on an even footing.

_Won't you invite me in?_

_No._

Alcide had crossed his arms over his powerful chest, waited.

Unperturbed, Eric shrugged. _Very well, though that's no way to treat a future client. I have a business proposition for you._

_I'm probably not interested, _the werewolf immediately confessed.

_I think you would be. _

A pregnant pause passed between them. As an angler Eric waited patiently, dangling the bait, ready to set the hook at first sign of a nibble.

Alcide despised himself a little for caving. But as a businessman, he could lend an ear, right? In this economy a contractor couldn't turn down the chance to make a bid. Curiosity killed the cat; hopefully the wolf makes away clean.

_Well? What is it then?_

Pleased, Northman spread his hands wide. _I have recently come into ownership of a very interesting piece of real estate. A certain farmhouse on Hummingbird Road that was ravaged by a maenad. I want you to restore it._

Puzzled, Alcide had raised one dark eyebrow. _You mean Sookie's farmhouse?_

_The very one, _answered Eric, all too pleased with himself.

_And just how did you come by that? _questionedthe werewolf, immediately suspicious. A thread of a growl entered Alcide's tone, even as mention of that little blond ray of sunshine invoked a certain ache within his heart.

_Now, now, don't raise your hackles at me,_ scolded Northman, enjoying himself thoroughly. _It was her rat brother who put it up for sale, up to his neck in hot water as ever. But I find myself believing Ms. Stackhouse will return to us someday. I think she'll be grateful to find someone didn't give up on her. _One blond eyebrow arched suggestively, and the werewolf didn't want to think on the ways Northman would expect Sookie to express her gratitude. 

_What do you know, Northman_? Alcide couldn't say he honestly expected Eric to divulge any information he may have happened upon about Sookie's whereabouts, and yet that thread of hope remained, a very real and true thing. He missed the telepath, even if it was not his place to, more than he would like to admit to anyone. Thoughts of her danced through his mind. Memories of her beauty. Questions. What if they'd met under different circumstances? In a world without Debbie, without Bill…they might have made a match.

And most of all, _where _had she gotten off to? Did she swear them all off, everyone who ever demanded something of her, thought unkind things of her without call, a whole state full of monsters who all seemed to crave a bite of that delectable little morsel in one way or another—maybe she drove off into the sunset, to a new life.

Or, the darker side of the coin: maybe she'd been taken.

No trace remained. Only hope. Perhaps the one thing he and the vampire standing across from him held in common.

_Nothing to speak of. But I want to hire you, Herveaux, to bring that house back to livable condition. I trust you would charge me a fair price?_

Eyes met across the threshold, Eric daring Alcide to refuse.

Surprisingly, Alcide found he didn't particularly _want _to refuse.

And so the project began. The werewolf assessed the damage personally, feeling a little strange as he made his way through Sookie's rooms, the spaces she'd filled with her body and her light. Despite the mess left behind by the bacchanalia, he could still pick up her scent everywhere. A comfort and a maddening thing, wrapped up in one.

Months later, the vampire visited his latest acquisition, to find Alcide himself on his knees in the kitchen, working late laying down a tile floor.

_I didn't say you had to do the work yourself_, sneered the vampire, crossing his arms as he peered down at the werewolf.

At first, Alcide had brought in crews to clean up the mess, contracting out across the full spectrum of his construction contacts. _Everything _in the old farmhouse needed work, from plumbing to electricals, carpentry and paint and all in between. And yet Alcide found that watching these hordes of strangers come and go from Sookie's home unsettled him. So many hands upon the things she'd touched; hands that did not know this fine girl, have any inkling of her story or her bravery.

In the end he sent them away, resolving to do the rest himself. A task he was perfectly capable of; Alcide knew the ropes, didn't mind getting his hands dirty. Northman hadn't given a time limit, and so bit by bit, the werewolf worked over the Stackhouse ancestral home, bringing it back to life project by project.

He could not help her, where ever she'd disappeared to. But this, this he could do, he told himself.

_Saving you money, Northman. I didn't think you'd mind. _

_Money is no object, as you know. _

_Lucky you, _sniped the wolf.

_Is this the best you can do with your Saturday nights, Herveaux? _Glancing the vampire's way, Alcide beheld a cruel smile curling Eric's lips. He understood all too well, knew the wolf had cared for Sookie. _How touching. Here you are, pining for your little ray of southern sunshine, building her a home with your two bare hands._

It struck too close to home for Alcide to formulate a quick retort; his grip tightened upon the piece of tile he held, enough to cause the ceramic to creak, threatening to snap. A wave of sorrow overcame the wolf, Eric's words striking home as arrows set loose upon him. A longing that wrenched his gut ambushed Alcide, and there were no words. Only the madness with which he missed _her_, and the weakness her memory left behind.

Eric stood to leave, affecting disinterest, even while he himself battled his own wave of regret and longing. _She's coming back_, Eric told himself. _She must. _He'd found with a great surprise, that for all his years, all that he'd seen, all the losses endured, the thought of never beholding the sunny telepath's sweet face again was a thing he could not abide. And so he waited, and he _believed._

_She would be back._

The vampire turned on his way out the door, words thrown over his shoulder laden thick with disdain. _Your puppy love is sweet, Herveaux, but WHEN she comes back…she belongs to me. Remember that._

Alcide glared at Eric's back as the vampire exited, hating the way that he walked, hating his words and the confidence with which he delivered them. Alcide hated the way Eric Northman treated the world and all its inhabitants, as though all he beheld belonged to him, awaited his word, his wish. Was it the mark of a creature passed a thousand years as a predator of the night, or had Northman always been that way?

Herveaux suspected the Viking had _always _been that way.

_I think we'll let Sookie decide_, the wolf had muttered under his breath. _When she comes home._


	2. What Did I Miss?

Chapter 1

And there she lay.

On a Saturday morning, Alcide approached the front porch of the Stackhouse family home, tool belt in hand, ready to begin another day of work, to find Sookie herself curled up upon the weathered boards, deep in sleep. The fingers of a sunbeam crept across the porch, slid through the tousled long locks of her hair, inciting them to shine as threads of gold.

Completely taken aback, Alcide could do little but stand and stare in wonder upon her for several moments.

Quite possibly, for the first time in his life he forgot how to breathe.

Was it possible, that she'd become even more beautiful since last he'd beheld her? Something of her, even in slumber, shimmered. As though she were made of finer materials than the rest of mortal humanity.

The thought did not seem too far fetched.

Slowly, the werewolf approached, fearing she may be a mirage born of a hopeful mind. But she did not disappear into thin air, and next Alcide felt tempted to test the old fairy tale and wake her with a kiss. He thought better of it; she did not rouse as he scooped her up in his arms as a wilted flower fallen from grace. The werewolf could see that parts of her clothes were torn; her feet bare and dirty, her hair a little tangled. There were scents upon her his keen nose had never encountered in Louisiana, smells so wild and sweet he could not begin to imagine the origin of.

_Girl, where have you been? _he muttered under his breath, and ported her light form up the stairs to the master bedroom, the only one he'd restored thus far. Once it had been Gran's room, and sometimes if he worked too late, he would collapse beneath the hand stitched quilt. Now, its rightful owner would finally fill the queen sized bed.

She sighed a little with what he took for appreciation, as he pulled the covers up to her chin, settled deeper into the soft pillow. _Sleep tight, Sookie,_ whispered Alcide, looking down upon her. _You're safe now._

On silent feet the werewolf slipped out of the room, shutting the door until only a crack remained.

Where _had _she come from?

Out of curiosity, he followed her trail, down the porch and across the yard, until he found himself standing in the graveyard across the way. And there the trail ended, dead, as though she'd appeared from thin air.

At this point, he wasn't willing to argue she hadn't.

The next order of action niggled at his mind. He wanted to shake her awake, demand answers that would at long last satiate his burning curiosity. But he would let her come out in her own time.

And then there was _the other _issue.

His honored pain in the ass, the venerable Sheriff of Shreveport would want to know what just transpired in his area. At the moment, Eric accompanied the King on a diplomatic visit to Europe, and Alcide wondered if he would feel Sookie's presence from so far away.

They would find out.

Alcide decided he wouldn't be calling Eric, the vampire's temper be damned.

At least for a little while, their telepath could have a little rest.

Sookie awoke to the long shadows of dusk falling across the wall, clutching the sheets in a moment of fear and disorientation. Where were Prince Agnar's soldiers? And her grandfather, Niall?

But the room seemed empty, and with a start, she realized it was Gran's.

Then, she remembered. The rebel, Nala, who took her to the portal as the Prince's fey breathed hard upon the backs of their necks. She appeared in the graveyard, and ran home on bare feet, only to find the door locked. Exhausted from the chase, from travelling between realms, she'd collapsed upon the front porch.

Then who brought her up to Gran's room, she pondered, sitting up more in bed. She cast her eyes about the room curiously. The walls had been given a fresh coat of paint, and that catywompous window replaced. Through the cracked door she could see new tile gleaming upon the bathroom floor.

As though in answer to her question, the door creaked just a tad, to reveal a tall and fit form in the portal, looking upon her with a mixture of curiosity and surprise. "Alcide!" she exclaimed, her arms automatically opening in a gesture of welcome. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," said the werewolf, a smile he could not help spreading upon his handsome features. He crossed the room to take one of Sookie's hands in his own, her small mitt completely engulfed by his. She pulled him to sit upon the bed; the warmth of his hand an alluring comfort.

She felt tempted to pull him under the covers with her, this heat-radiating werewolf. For all its glamour, Faery had been a cold cold place, and the chill still remained deep in her bones.

But ladies didn't do such things, she reminded herself, and settled for squeezing the long fingers wrapped around her own. Blue eyes rolled upwards to find Alcide looking upon her intently, an almost haunted expression in place. "Honey, you look like you've seen a ghost," she teased.

"At first I wasn't so sure I hadn't," he admitted. "You've been gone for two years, Sookie. Where did you go?"

Sookie's heart lurched to the pit of her stomach at hearing these words. "Two years? You're exaggerating, Alcide. I was gone for a week at the most."

However, a silence persisted between them, and Sookie could see that the werewolf told no jokes.

"Oh my God," she sighed. "Time must be different, over there."

"Where is _over there_, cher?" coaxed the werewolf, reaching up to brush a lock of golden hair from her eyes. Had she lost it? Gone off the deep end? After all the vampires put her through, a while back, he couldn't even blame her.

Alcide's heart threatened to pound through his chest, as she took his other hand in hers, catching his gaze with eyes that glittered as sapphires in the dying sunlight. "Alcide, I found out that I'm part fey," she imparted. "A cousin found me. She invited me to the Faery realm, where they've taken refuge. After all that happened, I wanted to get away so badly—I just went, on a whim. I never dreamed I would be gone this long."

Alcide found, in fact, that he did believe her. It made sense in a way; it explained how she could disappear without a trace, and how her trail could lead to the graveyard and end cold. It maybe even explained this extra bit of _shimmer _Sook seemed to be carrying around; out the corner of his eye, he could have sworn she were made of precious stones.

"Was it a better place, Sook?" He dared ask, even as he feared she would say _yes. _He squeezed her hands in his, the flesh remained chilled, barely responding to his werewolf heat. What else had the fey realm done to her?

Sookie paused, cast her eyes downwards, unable to stand the intensity of his stare as she searched her heart for an honest answer. It was supposed to be. A better place, a magical place, free of the cares and trials that plagued the creatures of earth. But that had been a lie; the lie within the magical fruit, which she refused to eat. Instead there'd been a whole new set of powerful individuals with an agenda for her. Royals with a need for fresh blood, hoping to buy peace with the hand of a convenient female relative.

"No," Sookie finally answered. "No, it wasn't."

She realized now that there was no where she could go, to be free of the fear and pain in existence, the greed and the scheming and the wickedness of others.

A tear trembled at the corner of her eye; the mere crest of a vast and roiling sea of pain within her. As it broke free and rolled down her cheek Alcide caught it deftly with the blade of his finger. "Don't cry, cher," he soothed. "We're just glad to have you home now."

"Has it _really _been two years?"

"'Fraid so."

"What did I miss?"

Alcide swallowed hard, unsure of how to go about telling her the piece of new undoubtedly that would interest her most: that her ancestral home now belonged to Eric Northman.

"Sookie, you are cold as a block of ice. Let me run you a bath. And get some food in you. Then we'll talk."

For a moment he felt certain those big blue eyes could see right through him, as he rose from his seat, the places on his skin where she'd touched him tingling with the desire to grab her right back up. She nearly protested, but as she sat up in bed she realized just how very much her muscles and bones ached; maybe she _could _stand to let Alcide take care of her, just for _a little bit_.

**OOOOOOOOO**

Sookie marveled at the freshened state of her home, the mess from the Maenad completely gone, scrubbed away, fresh paint on the walls. There were doors that had creaked since her childhood that now opened smooth as butter. Crumbling plaster ceilings patched. Floor boards had been replaced, leaky faucets, tiles. Furniture and curtains ruined by the bacchanalian thrown out, similar pieces set in their place. Even as she was blown away by how _good _the house looked, she burned to know _why_, and Alcide danced around the issue.

At the moment, she let him, finding herself quite content to sit at the kitchen table wrapped in a tatty old quilt, and watch him take charge of the cast iron pans, fixing pork steak and cornbread and greens.

It was an almost ridiculously domestic scene that felt quite right at that moment; she'd always been drawn to the werewolf, from day one, when Eric sent him to help her with her problem in Jackson. Physically he remained unchanged after two years, jean-clad legs still long and lean, broad shoulders and chest encased in red flannel, sleeves rolled up over those powerful forearms. Maybe he could use a hair cut, she mused with a smile, looking upon raven locks let grow a little shaggy, ends just brushing his collar in the back.

"It's good to see you smile, Sook," said the werewolf, glancing over in her direction.

"With a handsome man in my kitchen cooking me supper, I've got plenty to smile about," teased Sookie, leaning back in her chair. "And not that I'm complaining, but I would still love to know why it was _you _who found me passed out on my front porch this morning. And why you've been making my house look so good? Which I will find a way to pay you for. I'm not really sure how, at this very moment, but…"

"You don't need to worry about that, Sookie," Alcide assured her, setting down a plate.

"And just why not?"

The werewolf took a seat across from her, making a gesture urging her to dig in. With a sliding glance his way, she cut off a small bite of pork chop.

Delicious.

However, she kept those blue eyes trained upon him, and Alcide found himself crumbling before their beauty. "Cher, a lot has changed since you've been gone."

"Tell me about it, then."

"Well, I'm living in Shreveport now. We landed a hefty development contract that dad sent me to oversee."

"That's great, Alcide."

Sookie awaited some mention of Debbie, and felt relieved when none surfaced.

"And your ex-boyfriend is now the King of Louisiana."

Sookie nearly dropped her fork. "No."

"Yes ma'am."

"I expect taking orders from Bill doesn't sit well with a certain vampire sheriff we know."

"Probably not, though we both know Eric finds ways around authority to do as he likes."

"Yes."

Alcide pushed his food around his plate, not exactly eager to break the next bout of news, knowing it was the most important tid bit of all. Though she didn't pick up much from Alcide, at this moment, a flash of anxious images appeared in her mind, mostly of Eric wearing the smile the snake must have paid Eve.

"Sookie, your brother had you declared dead, so he could sell this house. Northman bought it, and hired me to return it to livable condition. For you. He didn't believe you were gone for good. Neither did I."

The telepath sat still as a stone, absorbing what Alcide said, soaking it in.

Eric Northman, that devious vampire, now owned her house. Her ancestral home, the farmhouse Stackhouses had filled since before the Civil War. The vampire believed in her, and the werewolf believed in her, where her own brother had not.

Finally, Sookie spoke, her voice barely audible but for Alcide's supernatural hearing. "I suppose I can guess what Eric would expect me to trade to get my house back."

"It doesn't have to come to that, Sookie," Alcide jumped to assure her. "We can find a different way."

As a matter of reflex, Sookie looked to the sky, now an inky indigo blue, the sun fallen below the horizon half an hour ago. Before, she'd had the rule of invitation at least, to protect her from that vampire. Now, not even that remained.

"You don't have to be my white knight, Alcide," Sookie assured him. "I don't want you to get hurt in the middle of this." She'd seen what Eric Northman was capable of. And without ego, she also knew how very badly that vampire wanted to own her. She wouldn't be fool enough as to think he actually cared about her; she wouldn't make that mistake with a vampire again. But for all their enmity, vampires and fey both stood on very similar footing when it came to the art of owning other beings, whether it be as slaves, servants, or spouses.

Sookie watched curiously as the werewolf extended his hand across the table, palm open. She could see the strength in those paws, every callous, the hands of a man who ran the show on the job site but still didn't mind getting down into it. "And you don't have to take him on alone, cher. I'm on your side."

The telepath found her heart pounding in her chest; who, besides Gran, had ever said such a thing to her and meant it? Truly meant it. She felt Alcide's intentions to be true, and it was a curious thrill that spread through her veins as she slid her hand into his. At that moment she remembered something she'd once said to Alcide, what seemed now like ages ago. _If I knew what was good for me, I would fall in love with someone like you_. Looking into the depths of his hazel green eyes, it still seemed like sound advice to her.


	3. To Hell With Eric

_Author's reminder: I own nothing, I make no money, we're just here to have a little fun. Duh._

_Dear readers-I know, it's been a while...::ducks thrown fruit and chairs:: Real life happened. Ugh. My apologies. Enjoy!_

Chapter 2

A beautiful spring night descended upon the front porch of the farmhouse on Hummingbird road. The breeze held a delicious little chill; summer's heat and humidity hung in the air like a promise, waiting to descend upon Louisiana once more.

Sookie and Alcide sat on the front porch swing; she swaddled in her old quilt, he in his shirtsleeves. Alcide caught her up a bit on developments he knew of taken place the past two years. Aside from Bill taking the throne, Jason was now a sheriff's deputy, and Sam had done well enough to add an addition to Merlotte's. Alcide wasn't seeing Debbie any more, though she showed up on his doorstep once in a while after a bender begging to be taken back. His father's company had landed a lucrative new subdivision contract in Shreveport. They were depending on its completion to stay afloat in the slogging economy. Alcide was in charge of keeping an eye on the project, but in truth he'd been thrilled to land the job of Sookie's house. Despite the obvious, it was a chance to get his hands dirty again, to bring new life to an old house in need of some love. As a younger man he'd dreamed of branching off from his father's mega-construction company to do specialized restoration work in historic homes, but now he doubted he would ever get the chance to realize it.

"When are Eric and Bill due back from Europe?"

"We have a few more weeks of peace and quiet," Alcide answered, praying word would not travel across the ocean and bring them back prematurely. Eric left Pam in charge in Shreveport—keeping the secret from that tall harpy would be the essential trick. And at that moment Alcide wondered if spies lurked in the woods, as they sat so openly upon the front porch swing.

"If we're not being spied upon this very moment," suggested the telepath.

"You reading my mind?"

"Not this time," replied Sookie coyly. "He'll be furious, you know," she mused aloud "I really don't want you to get in the middle of it."

"I can hold my own. Don't you worry that pretty little head."

Sookie raised an eyebrow at the werewolf's self-assured declaration, but said nothing. Eric was a 1000 year old vampire—and though she had a great deal of faith in Alcide as a protector, she couldn't imagine a confrontation with the angry Viking that would turn out favorably.

It would be up to her, she decided, and knew that honey would take her farther than vinegar. Unfortunately she suspected that to be the vampire's intent all along. She would be walking a fine and dangerous line very soon, she realized. Sooner than she truly felt prepared for. The stakes were high—she knew she wouldn't just be negotiating for her ancestral home, but for her freedom, her very soul, even. The thought of matching wits with a creature such as Eric for such things only chilled her bones farther, an icy cold passing through her body that no quilt could quell.

Alcide did not sit next to her in oblivion to the storm that took her inside. He could not read her thoughts, perhaps, but with a canine sensitivity to emotion he could absolutely sense her fear. Hoping he wasn't too bold, Alcide wrapped an arm around Sookie's narrow shoulders, pulling her close.

For a moment she stiffened with surprise, before relaxing against him, melting into his body heat. "You're so warm," she sighed.

"And you are a block of ice," replied the wolf, a thread of worry entering his words. "This isn't right, Sook. Maybe we should get you to a doc."

However, the telepath shook her head no at the suggestion. She didn't want to be poked and prodded any more than she already had been in faery, Niall's aides inspecting her for fitness to be a bride in a royal wedding she wanted no part of.

My God, she'd escaped by the skin of her teeth. And she wondered if the chapter could be closed so easily—somehow she suspected not.

Anxiety built in Sookie, rose in her as a flood assaults a dam, as she ruminated upon the implications of Eric owning her home. Disgust ran in circles around her mind, between Jason and the devious vampire. The fact that her own brother gave up on her, after virtually no time at all, stung Sookie deeper than she could truly express.

She felt exhausted, so very _tired_, in a way that permeated far deeper than just the physical. It reached deep into her soul, and despair welled with it. Once again, she found herself stripped bare, forced to start anew from the ashes. She doubted she even had any legal recourse to reverse the sale. Jason had surely already spent what ever earnings he'd gleaned from the house, leaving nothing to pay Eric back with, and besides, how would she even begin to explain to a court why she'd disappeared? Somehow she doubted _I just stepped out for a vacation to Fairy Land _would cut it.

"We'll take it a day at a time, cher," Alcide interjected into the storm of her dark thoughts. "Step one. You're alive and well and _home_. The rest will come."

With a heavy sigh, Sookie nodded. Though his words did not exactly bring her solace, the very fact that he was there and he tried, did.

"I guess I need to go see if Sam will give me my job back."

"I think you should take it easy for a while. No sense in running yourself ragged so soon."

"Alcide, I can't afford the luxury. I have nothing. No money, no house…" She looked to the place where her little yellow Honda had stood parked since high school. It stood empty. Jason must have sold that too. "No car. Nothing."

Alcide bowed his head in sympathy, holding his tongue as the immediate impulse to offer to support her leapt forth within him. "You have a friend," he offered, holding out his hand in a gesture that mirrored their interlude at the dinner table not so long ago. "A friend who's not going to let you starve anytime soon, Sook. It'll be alright. It'll all work out, somehow."

Sookie found her usually sunny outlook on life lacking, and she mourned this newfound darkness inside her. She'd been warned that the vampires would steal her light, would suck her dry until there was nothing left of herself in her shell of a body.

At that moment she understood all too well.

And at that moment, Alcide's warm body beside her was worth more than its weight in gold to Sookie. She laced her fingers in his, and thought _bless him _when he didn't even flinch at the icy touch of her skin.

"I don't even want to see them," she found herself confessing in a whisper, staring out at the dark night, envisioning the town that lay somewhere beyond.

"Who, honey?" A sinking feeling crept into Alcide's heart, a small sting that made him wonder if he was an unwelcome party on this porch swing.

"All of them. Everyone I know in town, every familiar face. Not Sam, not even my brother. Not Bill, not Eric. I don't want to answer their questions, I don't want to hear their mean little thoughts. I think I could just sit here on this porch swing with you until the magnolia's bloom."

That would be at least a month off.

It was a long time to sit on a swing, but Alcide took the statement for what it was worth, happy once more in his place beside the little blonde telepath.

"You don't have to see them," he assured her. "You can set right here for as long as you want."

She knew it wouldn't last long, but the thought was the sweetest she'd had all day.

A few moments of silence passed, before she spoke again. "It's nice to be here, with you," she dared admit.

"A little bit like old times, huh?" He cracked a smile that was radiant as the sunrise, and her heart ached for it. "Only we're not looking for any fangers and no one's trying to kill us."

_Yet_, she couldn't help but think.

Sookie nodded, a small smile pulling the corners of her mouth, at long last. The sight warmed Alcide's heart, and perhaps made him a little brazen. The werewolf dared to reach up, brushing a stray lock of straw colored hair from her eyes, and gently chucking the little telepath beneath the chin. "You know, back then, you stole my breath away the first time I saw you. I've been waiting to get it back ever since."

For a moment Sookie thought Alcide might kiss her. Her heart pounded mercilessly in her chest, galloping as a herd of spooked horses. For she found that as much as she would have liked to feel his soft lips on hers, there were a million and one reasons why it would have been a _very _bad idea. She clenched her eyes closed as though withstanding an onslaught.

Puzzled, Alcide pulled back, unsure of his position once more, cursing himself for moving too fast. _Cool it, wolf, _he warned himself. _She's been to hell and back._

"I wish we'd met _before_, Alcide." Before vampires found her, and faeries, and decided they wanted to own her, one way or another. Decided they were entitled to pull her apart piece by piece.

Her words fell upon him like bricks, though their inherent meaning still managed to leave him with some sort of hope.

"Before Eric?" he asked.

"Before Eric. Before Bill. Before my chances at a normal life went spiraling out the window."

A nervous little laugh escaped her, a sound of despair she knew some associated with _crazy Sookie_. She wondered if Alcide would. The thought hurt a little, but she was used to that. She buried her face in her hands to escape the hazel eyes that fixed upon her.

Escape would not be so easy, however. She felt Alcide move from his place beside her on the swing, and she felt the blissful warmth of his body at her legs as he crouched down before her. He reached out to gently lower her hands, and she was too surprised not to let him.

"Cher, I've known you a little while, and I'm pretty certain you've got _at least_ nine lives. You've probably only used up about…four. That's less than half."

She couldn't help but laugh a little at his earnest expression, and perhaps all too accurate analogy.

"And how many lives do wolves have, Mr. Herveaux? Because Eric would kill you just for looking at me that way. I'm a dangerous girl to be around right now. I shouldn't even be here."

She stood from the swing, shedding the quilt, but Alcide stood with her, towering over her slight form. The line of heat that emanated from him was delectable; far more of her wanted to curl up in his strong arms, than run away.

Alcide knew what Sookie said was probably true. That the fanger wouldn't think twice about tearing out his throat, just for looking at Sookie with the slightest longing. Yet with her here, in front of him, looking up with those oceanic blue eyes, he just couldn't _help _himself. Strong hands rose to stroke the line of her arms from elbow to shoulder, winning a shudder that filled him with a maddening desire.

"Let's play a game," he proposed, and Sooke's eyebrows rose high.

"A game? Have you lost your mind?"

Ignoring her, the werewolf went on. "This game is called _To Hell With Eric_. Until he returns from his little trip abroad, we can live here in our little bubble of paradise. I will continue to fix this old house, because it deserves a pair of hands that know what they're doing." The hands in question, large and strong and a little calloused in a way Sookie didn't mind in the least, clasped her hands in his. "And you can rest, sit in the sun, read a book, and regain your strength. You're going to need it."

"And when Eric gets back?"

"We'll make a plan to get you your house back."

"He won't give me back this house without getting what he wants. We both know that."

"Well…we'll see. But for _now_, it's your house. Because we're playing _To Hell With Eric. _Agreed?"

He held out a hand to shake, and though she inherently _knew _it was a bad idea, it was too sweet a temptation. Sealing her fate, Sookie shook his hand, her small mitt disappearing in the breadth of his.

"It might become my favorite game," she warned.

"Mine too."


	4. There It Is

Chapter 3

A/N: I know I'm not so canon. In my stories Sookie's eyes are blue, because they should be _blue_, damn it, and Alcide drives a _real _truck, not that stupid van, like a real man. Ahem. Enjoy! :)

Alcide had never been so eager to go to work in his life.

There was something about being greeted by that warm sunbeam of a smile on the front porch that nearly did him in every day. And Sookie harbored a similar warm feeling, beginning with hearing the low grumbling sound of Alcide's Dodge Ram pickup pull up into the drive every morning.

She would greet him on the porch with a cup of coffee. They would sit and enjoy the mist and soft light of the early hour on the front porch, before the werewolf would dig out whatever tools he needed for the day. The sight of him ascending her front steps with a tool belt slung low on his hips like a gunfighter caused more than just a little flutter deep in her heart.

Sookie watched him work with ill-concealed fascination, taken by his handiwork, the sure and careful way those skilled hands brought her house back to life, piece by piece, nail by nail, board by board.

It was so beautiful now, and her heart ached, for deep down she knew she wouldn't be allowed to keep it.

They say you can't go home again.

She was glad she got to see it, just this one last time.

When the vampires returned, everything would change, she knew. The shit would hit the fan, as it always did, and she hoped Alcide was right about her nine lives.

In between laying boards and driving nails, Alcide stole glances of the petite telepath inspecting his handiwork. More than a little pride welled in his broad chest when he noticed her small hand smoothing over her reclaimed wood countertops appreciatively, or her cute pink painted toes curling with pleasure upon the cool surface of the tile floor. She would bring him glasses of fresh made iced tea, and he couldn't help but think that she looked radiant as a queen in her sweet sundresses.

She wore these sundresses stubbornly, for the chill from Faery had not quite left her, deep inside. Sookie would sit in the sun with a book, willing this frigid curse to lift from her body. Even in the spring Louisiana heat of the afternoon, it remained.

This did not go unnoticed by Alcide. There was a shadow to her smile and a chill on her skin that caused his heart to ache. Though they were playing the game of _To Hell With Eric _fairly well, he knew the impending return of the Viking vampire weighed heavily on Sook's mind. And though Alcide didn't exactly know what had happened to her in Faery, he deduced it had not been pleasant.

While in the Bon Temps farm and home store, picking up a box of fasteners after unexpectedly running out, a sudden whim struck him with the intention of brightening that sweet telepath's smile to its former glory. The inspiration came as he passed by a group of metal water troughs illuminated by heat lamps, a sweet and incessant _peep peep peep _drifting out. Alcide towered overthe tiny balls of fluff bouncing over each other like popcorn, hands on his hips, studying them with an appraising eye.

What female heart wouldn't be warmed by day old chicks? Much less a heart as generous as Sookie's.

He took two home in a cardboard box, his passenger seat peeping the whole trip back to the farmhouse.

Sookie sat in a rocking chair in a sunbeam upon the front porch when Alcide returned.

By the sly smile upon his handsome features, she knew the werewolf was up to something.

After removing something from the passenger seat, he held it behind his back, approaching slowly. Sookie couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed by the pleasure she took in watching Alcide, even in something as simple as walking. The way he moved, his essence and shape, moved her in a way that pulled at her heart strings. Even as she knew it was a bad idea, she recognized these fateful sensations as the beginnings of love, a love rooted not in desire but appreciation for the being Alcide was. It felt surprisingly…normal. And had the threat of Eric's jealousy not hung as a dagger above their heads, it could even have been termed as _healthy_.

"Alcide Herveaux, what have you done?" she asked with that shadow of a smile. Lovely but just shy of bright.

"I found something you might like at the store," he answered evasively.

Sookie raised one eyebrow inquisitively as the werewolf knelt carefully before her. Their eyes met, and the telepath couldn't help but marvel at the flecks of color in his eyes, an array of greens, golds, and caramels that left his irises in beautiful indecision between green and brown.

Before she could scold him for buying her a gift, he brought the box around, displaying his find between them. Sookie's jaw dropped for the sight, a small sound of delight escaping her. "Chicks? Oh Alcide, they're adorable!" Carefully she scooped one up, examining the fluffy baby bird with a kind eye. Her thumb stroked it carefully, and its eyes closed. It had had a busy afternoon.

"You like them?"

The telepath smiled, and it was the first inkling of true joy he'd seen in her expression since her return. "Yes, of course. But I've never had chickens, are they hard to take care of?"

"They're very easy. Sis and I had them when we were kids. You'll love it, I promise."

"Where will I put them?"

"In a bin with a heat lamp for a little while. Then they'll be ready for a coop."

"I don't have a coop."

"You will," he assured her with a smile.

Sookie bit her lip, failing miserably at concealing her broadening smile. "Alcide, you don't have to do this for me."

"I don't have to," he acknowledged. "But I absolutely want to."

He would be done with the house in a few more days. He didn't mind having a project to keep him around, if she didn't mind.

Averting her eyes, looking to the chick that had already fallen asleep in her lap, wrapped up in the secure blanket of her hands, the smile broadened.

"_There_ it is," said the werewolf, ducking to see her eyes.

"What?"

"The smile I remember."

Sook sighed, and it did not hold quite the weight as usual. "You're pretty good at making me smile."

Once more Alcide felt brazen, his heart swollen with pleasure for this small thing he'd done, this small battle won with darkness for his lady. "It's a job I'm happy to take on," he dared admit. As Sookie lifted those blue eyes to regard him, Alcide very much wanted to close the distance between them, to lean over her lap and press his lips to hers. The thought was a strong one, and Sookie couldn't help but pick up on it, her heart quickening with the thought.

Perhaps it was a bad idea, but had he decided to act upon it she knew she wouldn't, couldn't, stop him.

Alcide knew he needed a distraction, before he scooped her feather light body up and carried her upstairs.

Gingerly he fished the other chick out of the box, its tiny body dwarfed in his large strong hands. She watched how gentle he was with the baby chicken, how carefully he petted its fluffy back. It stood up tall, chirping with a bit of alarm and wonder at its new surroundings. "See its little beard?" he asked, pointing to the tufts beneath its chin. "She's a salmon faverolle. Very gentle. So is that one, she's a buff orpington. I think you'll like them."

"I already love them," she assured him. He placed the other chick in her lap, and it cuddled up with its friend in the shelter of her hands, falling asleep face down, the way young chicks do. "You guys get to know each other. I'll set up their bin and light."

Sookie watched Alcide retreat back to the truck, her heart light and filled alarmingly to the brim with something warm and fuzzy.

They were both in for trouble.

At that moment, she felt certain of it. Dark clouds loomed on the horizon, yet at that sweet moment they could not damper her mood or her smile.


	5. Yours If You Want Me

Disclaimer: The usual, folks. I make no money, I own nothing, I'm just having fun.

**Chapter 4**

Placing the finishing touches upon Sookie's house, sprucing up the back porch by replacing many rotten boards, ginger bread, and applying a fresh coat of white paint, came bitter sweetly. They celebrated that evening with a fried chicken dinner, and Alcide enjoyed watching Sookie in her white ruffled apron as she worked her magic in the kitchen, as much as she enjoyed watching him bring new life to her old house. It was a relationship of mutual appreciation, a rare and special thing.

They'd co-existed together in that house together for quite some time now, and shared the space well during the day, and well into the evening, until like a gentleman Alcide would make the hour drive home to Shreveport. Sookie would watch the tail lights of his truck disappear down the wooded road longingly, knowing they'd escaped disaster once more and still wishing a little that he would stay.

Now that the house was finished, Sookie had a feeling she would be missing him something fierce. Both seemed to brood on this as they sat on the front porch steps, watching the sun go down in a post-fried chicken languor, glasses of iced sweet tea sweating rings upon the newly sanded boards. The baby chicks hopped about in a basket beside them, peeping, eating crumbles of food, and falling face first into moments of rest. They were darling, and Sookie found herself reluctant to let them out of her sight.

"I'm afraid I'll have to go back to my other job next week," he told her. It was a subject they'd avoided up until that moment. "The development I was sent here to oversee. The foreman says there's been some problems. I have to go babysit."

"What kind of problems?"

"Materials disappearing. Copper pipe. Lumber. Tools. Etcetera. It's a frequent problem, and unfortunately usually an inside job."

"Sounds like you need surveillance cameras."

Alcide nodded in agreement. There were some already but it was impossible to cover everything on their budget. Then the idea struck him, plain as day. He wondered why he didn't think of it sooner. "Or someone who could sift through the laborers' minds like a book, and find out who's behind it."

"Why Alcide, is that a job offer?"

Alcide turned his head towards the lovely telepath. He noticed her eyes glimmered with interest. Maybe it would be nice to use her talents, instead of taking shit from ungrateful diners at Merlotte's. "Does that sound like something you'd be willing to do?"

"Maybe. It's exhausting, sifting through people's minds, Alcide. You find a lot of things you never really wanted to know."

"Well, think on it then. I don't want you to do anything you don't want to. But I would wager my father would be willing to pay a handsome wage for such a rare and invaluable service."

Sookie leaned in closer to Alcide, and had he been in wolf form his ears would have perked with interest. "I could do lots of things with this curse of mine," she said. "But it just seems to get me into more trouble than good. It's bad enough that certain vampires know about my gift. Can you imagine what would happen if the government found out? They would bundle me off to Gitmo to interrogate terrorists, and it would be the end of my free life as I know it."

A low growl rumbled from deep in Alcide's chest at the thought "I won't let that happen," he promised her. "Your secret would be kept locked up tight."

"You mean you won't write _Telepath _as my job description in the records?" she laughed. "I guess I could pose as a secretary on the job site," she mused. "No one would be the wiser. They would look over the top of my head like I wasn't even there."

Alcide, however, was having second and third thoughts about his suggestion. "A bombshell of a girl like you on a construction site? There would be no flying under the radar. I would have to assign you a body guard. Maybe it was a bad idea after all."

Sookie smiled to herself, liking the idea more and more. "Well, we don't have to decide now."

Sookie had noticed Alcide rubbing his hands. Certain he was a man who was perpetually sore from the line of his work, she reached for his great paw without a word, her thumbs firmly rubbing the stiff muscles in the pads of his palms.

The werewolf, caught by surprise by this unexpected but sweet contact, let loose a groan of contentment.

"You have no idea how good that feels," he said, eyes half closed. Always, his hands and shoulders were sore, from work or the gym.

"You earned it," she assured him, admiring the strength and size of the impressive paw in her own. "I've watched you put your heart and soul into this project, Alcide."

She had no idea, he couldn't help but think, and hoped the telepath wouldn't pick up on it. She went on. "The house looks so wonderful—I'm not sure it _ever _looked so good. You have a true gift. I'm happy you brought it back to life, even if I probably won't be able to stay here anymore."

Alcide hated to hear her say it, hated to hear the _pain _in her voice at the thought of leaving her childhood home, even as he knew it to be a very real possibility. It seemed Sookie was quite done with laying down and rolling over for vampires—Eric wouldn't have it easy with this one.

"We'll see about that, cher. How long has your family been here?"

"Ages. The early 1800s. I'm sure you can tell, the structure has more additions than Joan River's face."

The werewolf woofed with laughter. "It's a little hodge-podge, but it flows well. I've seen worse, believe me. Its stood the test of time. After so many years, who knows what stories these walls could tell, if they could talk?"

The thought made Sookie smile a little, chased the storm clouds from her expression once more. "Births. Deaths." She giggled. "Trysts? Who knows. Legend in our family has it that my great great great grandmamma Stackhouse shot a Union soldier dead right here on this front porch when he approached with…less than honorable intentions."

"My my. I see where you must get your wild streak."

Sook laughed, and it was a lovely sound that filled the air here more and more frequently these days.

She was afraid it would leave again with Alcide, and she didn't really know what she could do about it, besides enjoy this moment for what it was.

Alcide's eyebrows raised slightly when Sook shifted to sit upon the step above him, straddling his wide torso. When the blades of her thumbs pressed into the knotty muscles of his shoulders and the back of his neck, he couldn't suppress another sigh of contentment.

"You could do this professionally," he commented, eyes sliding closed. He tried not to let the fact that her small hands were upon him drive him wild. _Keep your cool, wolf_, he warned himself, even while what he really wanted to do was beg her to never stop touching him.

Sookie couldn't quite claim she remained unmoved by touching Alcide's powerful body, even if with therapeutic purpose. The span of his shoulders dwarfed her small hands. She found it a small miracle she could make any dent at all—without cliché, and as she'd expected, she found he was indeed rock hard. The skin of the back of his neck was almost feverishly warm, smooth and supple. The raven curls that fell around her fingers at the nape of his neck were soft as silk—this was something she'd wanted to do since the first day she'd met him, and perhaps she fondled his curls a little more than necessary. Alcide didn't seem to mind.

"You're a little shaggy back here, Mr. Herveaux. When was the last time you saw a barber?" she teased.

"I don't remember," he honestly admitted. Being a were meant his hair grew faster than what was human—too many trips to the establishment of the striped red pole could raise questions. He leaned back against her, indulging in their proximity, and the sweet scent of her skin. It didn't quite drive him wild as it did a vampire, but the fairy scent was still a thing of unbelievable sweetness to his sensitive nose.

"Want to cut it for me?"

Sookie did not balk at his closeness, only his weight. The wolf was solid through and through; she imagined he would sink like a stone. She couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to feel this body above hers, his weight pressing her down into a soft mattress while he kissed her…

She doubted she would mind then, even if he was crushing her now.

The thought sent her heart to skitter about in her chest, and she thought perhaps Alcide was the telepath at that moment, for the way he turned to regard her, a twinkle in his lovely hazel eyes. He sensed the quickened pitter pat of her pulse, almost as a rabbit hiding beneath a hedge, hoping to go unnoticed. The thought brought out the hunter in him, instinct directing Alcide to nuzzle the curve of her cheek with the tip of his nose, daring her to bolt into his waiting mouth.

Sookie was so very tempted, trembling taut as a rabbit primed to bolt.

Yet she suspected it wouldn't be her best idea. Perhaps they played their game of _To Hell With Eric, _but the inevitability of his return loomed _very real _in her mind. The last thing she wanted was harm to come to Alcide over her.

She was surprised when her voice came smooth; at least her words didn't betray the way he unsettled her.

"I'll get my scissors," she offered.

Alcide paused, suddenly reluctant to let her stand up.

"Thanks," he answered after a lull, leaning forward, releasing the telepath from the warm line of his weight against her.

"I'm not an expert," she warned him a few minutes later, sharp shears and comb in hand, as he sat in a straight back chair from the kitchen on the porch, hair dampened for easier management.

"It grows so fast you can't ruin it," he assured her. "Curly hair is forgiving."

And so she went about giving the werewolf a trim, the jet black locks falling to the decking. Shearing them away almost broke her heart, though she knew they would grow back. It was a bit of innocent fun, to touch him this way. It smacked of domesticity; just another lovely little lie they lived in their oasis of a farm house, enjoying the peace while they could. When she finished the werewolf stood from his chair, shaking off like a dog, feathers of hair falling from his shoulders.

"That feels great," he said, running a hand through the back of his now shorter hair. Though she hadn't had the heart to cut all the curls away, it still left his face strikingly stark, all his lines laid bare. It left one unable to look away from his masculine beauty, and Sookie found herself transfixed as he unselfconsciously peeled off his t-shirt, shaking it out over the railing of the veranda.

Maybe she'd never get to see Michelangelo's statue of David, but by God she'd seen Alcide Herveaux shirtless, and she imagined the experiences to be equally glorious.

Alcide was used to being watched by women, everywhere he went. It was a thing he usually enjoyed; a thing that perhaps he'd taken advantage of as a younger man. He felt Sookie's gaze; she did not look upon him as a hungry thing that wanted to take a bite, as so many did. There was a tenderness in her eyes that left him feeling a little raw, his longing for her howling more insistent than ever.

Slowly he turned to meet her gaze, finding she did not shirk from eye contact, even as perhaps her skin flushed pink with a bit of a blush. It all stoked his bravery, and Sookie could do naught but watch, feeling as the rabbit again as he slowly approached, clasping her hand in his. It all but disappeared in his paw, and the telepath sighed as he pressed her palm above his heart. The organ in question roared beneath her touch, pounding as though furiously seeking a way out of his chest. Her fingers shook slightly as she stroked the hair of his chest, his eyes boring into her. They seemed more green now; they seemed to positively glow. Wolf eyes, terrible and beautiful.

His voice came as a low grumble, nearly a growl, a low and primal register that tugged at strings low in her gut. "You can have this, Sookie. I'm all yours, if you want me."

Her heart pounded furiously for the suggestion.

If only it could be so simple.

"Alcide…" She tried to protest the offered temptation, but it came as a breeze of a sigh. The sound of his name on her lips made the werewolf wild inside; he leaned down to kiss her, lips feather light against hers, so full and soft and sweet that she thought she might _die_. Almost of their own accord, her feet rose to tiptoe, hungry for more. Though the wolf inside screamed for Alcide to take her, to make her their mate as he'd wanted for years, he kept the kiss gentle, strong arms encircling her waist, pulling her close. Sookie couldn't suppress a groan as his strong hands kneaded into her sides, Alcide slowly deepening their lock of lips, his tongue a cautious explorer in these lands coveted for so long.

Even as she melted in his arms, beneath his mouth, the telepath could not quell an insistent voice within her head. _You're going to get him killed. _

"Oh God," she whimpered, somehow breaking away, burying her nose in the bend of his neck so that she wouldn't have to face his eyes just yet.

"What's wrong, baby?" he whispered, holding her close.

He asked, even though he suspected he knew.

"We can't do this, Alcide. Eric will hurt you. He'll kill you for touching me."

"Eric's not here right now. Remember our game?" he tried to soothe her.

"This isn't a _game_!" She drew back to regard him, cradling his face in her hands, looking upon him lovingly but also with great fear. "This is very serious, Alcide."

"I know," he assured her. "I've never been more serious in my life. You're worth the risk."

"I'm not."

"You are, a thousand times over. I can handle myself, Sookie. Have a little faith."

"I know you're a formidable werewolf. But he's a 1000 year old vampire. There's no shame in being afraid of that."

"I didn't say I'm not afraid. I said I'll risk it."

Sookie shook her head, backing away, sliding from his fingers, suddenly illusive as a breeze.

Alcide couldn't help but feel hurt, in heart and pride, and his darkened expression showed it all too well. _Good job, _his inner voice congratulated. _You rushed it. You spooked her. _He backed away, afraid he might grab her up again if left in proximity. He needed a shower. A cold one. The werewolf retreated for the door, and it broke Sookie's heart to watch him go.

"Alcide, I'm so sorry…"

He shrugged those mountainous shoulders, but Sookie knew she'd cut him deeper than he would ever let on. Not only had she rejected him, but she'd implied he couldn't defend himself. It was all too much for a masculine heart and ego to bear. "It's ok, cher. It's your choice. But maybe ask yourself how much you're really willing to let that fanger control what you do in your life."

On that parting note Alcide ducked into the house, disappearing down the hall towards the shower.

Sookie felt so weak in that moment she feared her legs may give out from beneath her. The telepath fell into the chair Alcide had just occupied, amidst the stray tufts of cut hair. At that moment the whole world seemed to weigh upon her shoulders; she felt powerless in her own destiny, a small and fragile ship tossed amidst towering dark waves. For the first time since her return from Faery, Sookie cried. She kept it quiet, but still the sobs gripped her whole body, as a great hand squeezing her insides. It hurt. It all just _hurt_, and she wondered if life would ever stop _hurting _so bad.

She kind of doubted it would.

As the sun slowly made its way down, Sookie quieted her sorrows, curling her small frame up in the chair. She did think on what Alcide said about Eric. As usual, she found herself caught in a catch 22 with the Viking vampire. She was not willing to give herself to that manipulative vampire for any price. And yet he still hovered, ruining what perhaps could be her healthiest relationship since Gran.

What was she going to _do_?

The cold shower helped _somewhat_, though Alcide found the memory of her lips left a decided _ache _in his chest, just over his heart. _She just cares about you, wolf_, he reminded himself. She wasn't selfish. She wasn't the type to send a man headlong into the jaws of death for her own gratification. It made him love her even more, if it was possible, even as it was all frustrating as _hell_.

The sound of Alcide's voice turned Sookie's head. He paced in the kitchen, it seemed he spoke on the phone. She watched him smile, laugh, hand on his hip. The smallest things about him moved her, and she wondered if maybe she should just do what she wanted, and let him _take_ her.

At least she would die a happy woman.

When the werewolf stepped out to the front porch again he thankfully wore a shirt, and a smile, perhaps only slightly dampened by rejection. Fresh from the shower, his moist hair curled even more, and he smelled of ivory soap and old spice.

Sookie toyed with a shorn lock of his jetty black hair, sliding it between her fingers almost obsessively. It was all she could hold of him at the moment.

"You gonna keep that?" he teased, nodding at the prize in her hands.

"Thinking about it." Slightly embarrassed, she set it aside, and picked up the salmon faverolle chick, who she'd named Babette, or Babs for short. The baby craned its neck to look around, curious but content to remain in the safe haven of Sookie's hands.

"I just spoke with my father," he said. "My parents are coming in to town Friday to look over the subdivision project. They'd love to take you out to dinner to discuss possibilities of employment."

Sookie's heart jumped with the thought.

"Oh my. You were serious."

"Absolutely. How does that sound to you?"

"It sounds fabulous."

"Where should we go? I'm still new to the area, you know the best places to eat around here."

Merlotte's was the first thing that came to mind, and Sookie didn't want to go there just yet.

"Best place I know of is Sookie's kitchen. I'd be honored to fix a home cooked meal for them, if that would be acceptable?"

A mysterious little smile pulled at the corner of Alcide's mouth. She suspected it had something to do with the _hominess _of cooking a down home meal for his folks. It smacked of _meet the parents_. The thought sent a titter of nerves down Sookie's spine, but like a true Southern lady she did not balk.

"That would be lovely, cher. I'm sure they'd really appreciate it."

Alcide seated himself on the swing, and Sookie found the distance between them left a hollow feeling inside.

"Great. Can you take me to town tomorrow to get groceries?"

"Of course. Are you sure you're ready to announce you're back? You know word will spread like wildfire."

Sookie bit her lip. She _wasn't_, to be honest, but she knew it was inevitable. "It's been like a fairy tale to hide in the holler here with you, Alcide, but I'm afraid it's time to face reality. I've been thinking, and I don't even really know where to start to get my life back. If I've been declared dead and gone, how do I legally rise from the grave? "

"We'll drop by the sheriff's office tomorrow. They can make a report. It will be a start."

Imagining the look on Andy Bellefleur's face already pulled a giggle from the telepath. "Howdy Andy. I was kidnapped by fairies, but I escaped their realm and now I'm back. Write that down, will you?"

The pair shared a good laugh at the thought. "Maybe leave out the part about fairies."

"You think?"

A/N: I want to thank everyone who's reading, and especially reviewing! It feels so good to be back on that proverbial horse named writing again. Thanks and enjoy! -SL


	6. I Just Don't Trust You, Is All

Chapter 5

a/n: I couldn't remember Alcide's mother's name, nor find it anywhere on the nets. If you know, please enlighten me! Until then, I'm calling her Charlotte.

Sookie rose early Friday morning, a very important task at hand. She had a pie and fresh bread to bake for the meal with Alcide's family. They were due to arrive at 7:00pm. She had plenty of time, but she couldn't quite stop her pulse from pattering furiously.

Were this only a job interview, she had a feeling she wouldn't be so nervous.

She'd met Alcide's father and sister briefly, Jackson and Janice, in Mississippi, a time that seemed eons ago now. It had gone well then, they were as lovely as Alcide. She'd gotten on particularly well with Janice, and at the time had found herself wishing they lived closer. She hoped Janice was a younger version of her mother.

_It will be fine_ she told herself, and set to work.

As she baked Sookie thought of the previous day, her first trip to town with Alcide. She'd enjoyed riding shotgun in his truck, sitting tall above the world with the windows down and a handsome man beside her—but the pleasantries of the day about ended there.

As she'd foreseen, Andy Bellefleur suspected foul play, on her part.

Blaming the victim was as far as his pea brain and small imagination could take him, especially when a wily woman was involved.

If the formidable and towering figure of Alcide hadn't been there with her, she's not sure anything would have been accomplished at the station, aside from being run out of town.

Then meeting Jason at the station had been awkward, to say the least. Partly because she greeted him after all this time with _Hi, shithead. _

He'd given her hugs and excuses as always, clamoring like a puppy, happy in that moment with no thought for the future or the past. When she asked if he still had the money to buy their ancestral home back, he'd scratched his head a little, eyes sliding towards the fully tricked out and brand new Dodge Ram in the parking lot.

She took it as a no, and wondered what the hell he'd spent the remainder on, after the truck.

A trip to the Bellefleur law office, the only lawyers in Bontemps, proved as unfruitful as the Sheriff's. When she'd asked Portia if she had any legal recourse for her house being sold out from under her while she was supposedly dead, the counselor raised an incredulous and well groomed eyebrow. _Can you buy it back? _Portia had asked.

_Well, not exactly._

Portia had laughed.

Sookie left feeling defeated. Alcide knew how it went by the slope of her shoulders as Sookie exited the office, crossing the parking lot with small steps. He opened her door for her, offering a hand to help her up into the tall cab of the truck. They'd shared a brief moment of eye contact, and Sookie had been suddenly very reluctant to release the strong hand that gripped hers. _We'll find another way, cher_, he'd assured her. _Can I take you out to lunch?_

Feeling defeated, Sookie shook her head no. She didn't want to see anyone else she knew and who thought she was crazy that day. She wanted to retreat back into the woods with Alcide. A part of her never wanted to look back. _Let's go home,_ she requested, and Alcide understood completely.

_Anything you want._

They'd driven home in the bright afternoon sunlight, singing badly along with the radio. The sight of Sookie in his shotgun seat, hair down and waving wild in the wind, little feet up on the dash, pink toenail polish glinting in the sun, moved him in a way he could hardly describe. It was a sight he could get used to, that was for sure. She smiled wistfully as he sang to her, _Baby you a song, you make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise. _

A perk of being gone for two years, all the repetitive songs of the radio were brand new.

Maybe Florida/Georgia Line would have cringed, but she liked his rendition just fine.

He nearly jumped with surprise when she reached across the seat to lace her fingers in his, squeezing his hand affectionately. Her earlier rejection, no matter the honorable intentions, had left him unsure and determined to be a good friend, if that was all they could have.

Sookie didn't mean to send mixed signals. If there was a way for she and Alcide to have a chance, she wanted it. She wanted it _bad. _But she needed to know the stakes. She needed more facts. Like, just how ape shit would Eric flip when he found out. She had thought long and hard about how much she was willing to let that Viking vampire control her life, and found the answer was zilch. But she had to be smart about it. She had to be smart and strong and brave. Maybe braver than she'd ever been.

It was a daunting thought.

Alcide had said she was worth the risk.

He was too.

She couldn't help but feel that he was her anchor in this crazy life she led. In her universe devoid of a father or uncles, or a brother with any sense, he was the man she could count on.

Sookie could see the questions burning in the werewolf's eyes. She suspected the questions hurt more than her hand in his felt good. But when she tried to draw away Alcide wouldn't let go. Even if he didn't say aloud, Sookie couldn't help but catch the thought, in a rare moment picking up language from the were instead of colors or impressions. _I told you that you're worth the risk. I meant it._

So she'd relaxed, and enjoyed the rest of the drive home to their little farmhouse oasis.

Like the angel he was, Alcide arrived early to help make sure the house was tidy and to help Sookie with any other preparations for dinner. The kitchen smelled of heaven, pie and bread and simmering seasoned meat. An ornate wooden box rested upon the countertop, and Sookie worked on something at the sink. "Whacha got, cher?"

"Silver doesn't burn werewolves like it does vampires, does it?"

"No. It's only bad news when it gets inside us. Like being shot with a silver bullet."

"Oh good." She gestured to a pile of gleaming flatware upon a towel on the counter. "These were given to my grandmother as a wedding present. I've had them hid away since Jason stole her candlesticks to pawn for money to buy V. I thought it might be nice to bring them out for this special occasion."

Alcide examined one of the fine sterling forks. It was a handsome design, heavy and the handle worked in an ornate art nouveau design of flowers and leaves. Back in the day, they must have cost a fortune. "That sounds lovely." He patted her hip, and Sookie couldn't help but smile. She liked this. Working in the kitchen, the place where her creativity bloomed, and Alcide here with her.

Jackson and Charlotte Herveaux arrived just in time, as Sookie lay her tasty creations out on the table. Filet with a zesty apricot garnish, baked asparagus with sea salt, fresh green beans with shallots and sesame, and of course homemade bread still soft from the oven with real butter. The dinner setting pulled at her heart strings, for she'd not used the fine china with its delicately painted roses and silver shining as stars on the table since before Gran's death.

"Hello! Welcome, come in, it's so good to see you." Alcide watched as Sookie greeted his parents with genuine warmth, and of course was paid in kind.

"It's so good to finally meet you," said Charlotte, pulling Sookie into a hug. "Janice was so sad when you had to leave Mississippi, she still talks about you." Like a good Southern Lady, Charlotte was polite enough not to mention the circumstances or the ordeal they'd all been through.

The guests ooed and ahhed at the delicious smells in the dining room, and Sookie ushered all to take a seat, pouring glasses of sweet iced tea. Alcide couldn't help but be proud of Sook, her deportment, sweetness, and even her skills in the kitchen. She flitted back and forth in her pretty sundress, a ray of sunshine in the room. He could tell his parents were impressed, and that they liked her. Though it wasn't fair or right to compare, Alcide thought back with a cringe on the first time he and Debbie invited his parents to dinner at their first house.

_I'll handle it_, she'd promised, and then served a lukewarm bucket of KFC.

Conversation flowed pleasantly throughout the meal. Sookie's nerves dissipated as time went on. It became clear that these were sweet rational people with true manners, and she had nothing to fear. It wasn't until dessert, oven warmed apple pie a la mode and coffee, that their words turned to business. "So are you happy with the repairs Alcide made to your house?" asked Jackson, taking a bite of apple pie.

His eyes closed in a moment of bliss for the flavor.

It was Gran's recipe, and a surefire secret weapon in Sookie's entertaining arsenal.

"This house has never looked so good. Your son has a true gift. You have to look at the rest before you leave. I just wish…well, I'm not sure if Alcide's told you, but in my involuntary absence the possession of my family's ancestral home has slipped from my fingers."

Jackson nodded. Alcide had confided the circumstances to him, while wondering if it was even a good idea to take Northman's project on. Where both Jackson and Alcide were leery of dealing more with the wily vampire, their company could always use the cash flow in this economy. And, Jackson knew without Alcide saying a word, that his son had a soft spot for this sunny little telepath. It was written all over his boy's face now, and both parents were happy to see Alcide had finally lay Debbie's memory to rest.

"Alcide has let me in on some of the details, yes. And he says you might be interested in working for our company? We've been plagued on this subdivision job by sticky fingers. Things are disappearing, the police aren't any help, and I don't know what to do. If it goes on much longer we won't have a profit margin."

"I might be able to help you. I assume most of your employees are human?"

"Yes. Does it make a difference?"

"A little. I can read human minds easily. Weres come with a bit more difficulty. If I pick up anything, it's usually images and colors, emotions. And vampires are a blank slate."

"I see. Well, we're certainly willing to let you try. I'm at my wit's end. Can you start next week?"

"Absolutely."

Sookie and Alcide next took his parents on a tour of the house, showcasing the work the Herveaux crew, and a great deal, Alcide, had done. Sookie told a few stories of her child hood, how Alcide had repaired the long damaged rail of the stairs where Jason had slid down and crash landed. Alcide had even been thoughtful enough to leave the board in the door jamb where child hood heights had been recorded. Not only were there notches for Sookie and Jason, but also Sookie's father, and amusingly Adele too, whose height had diminished over the years.

Afterwards they retreated to the living room with coffee. Alcide sat next to Sookie upon the couch, and very much had to resist the urge to put his arm around her shoulders, to hold her close as they talked. It all felt very natural and warm, the four of them together in this cozy southern living room.

Naturally, it couldn't last.

"Well, isn't this sweet?"

The gathering jumped, even the werewolves taken by surprise.

A tall visitor in black leaned upon the door jamb of the living room, leather clad arms crossed over his chest, lips pulled slightly in a smirk all present had come to resent.

One could have heard a pin drop, for the hush that fell over the room.

The vampire paid a cursory glance to the family of werewolves, before keen blue eyes fixed upon his intended prize. "Welcome home, Sookie."

Sookie stumbled in her surprise, adrenaline pumping through her veins. Several seconds passed before she answered, "Thank you, Eric. Would you like to sit? I'm afraid I don't have any True Blood to offer you. I didn't know when you would return from Europe."

Eric Northman laughed quietly, the way snakes would, if they could, Alcide imagined.

"Ever the perfect Southern Belle," said the vampire, entering the room in a few long legged steps, observing the repairs that had been made in his absence. New plaster, crown molding, rose patterned wall paper, and re-finished fire place. It looked great. Perfect, just to his standard, as he knew the werewolf would provide. Eric took a seat in a wing back chair, sprawling as a king upon his throne.

The tension in the air could have been sliced with a knife.

"I expected the courtesy of a call upon your arrival, Sookie." His gaze directed to Alcide, and the werewolf resisted the temptation to growl.

"I haven't been back very long," she assured him.

"I see. Are you happy with the work done by Herveaux and Son?" Blue eyes travelled about the room once more. Yes, it was _just_ to spec. All he needed now was a daytime resting place. It was a job he did not trust the werewolf with.

"Very. They're the best in the business, I'd say."

"Quite." Eric's gaze leveled upon Herveaux the son once more. "It's good when one recognizes their strengths…and weaknesses."

Alcide clenched his hands, claws aching to spring from his fingertips. Every impulse in his body, governed by acute wolf senses, screamed that this being was evil, not of nature, and should be destroyed. The way Eric looked upon Sookie, as though he owned her as much as this house, turned his stomach in a ball of nauseous rage.

The vampire shifted his gaze to Herveaux the elder, one eyebrow quirking in the most infuriating way. "Jackson, it's been a long time. Been to any casinos lately?"

Sookie knew that Eric had once held Mr. Herveaux's gambling marker. She also knew that Jackson had been clean for more than a year, and was making the best effort to do what was best for his family.

"Eric Northman, I will not have you being rude to guests in my house," she rebuked sharply.

Eric seemed to find it all very amusing.

"But dear Sookie, this is _my _house. I'll say what I like to who I like. And right now, I have a great deal to say to you. I'm afraid your guests will have to leave."

Both Alcide and Jackson, gentlemen that they were, visibly bristled at the thought of leaving this sweet little woman alone with the monster Eric Northman. Everyone in the room sensed the impending fight; naturally, it was estrogen that sought to bring order to the volatile situation. Charlotte lay a calming hand upon her husband's arm, and Sookie's hand closed over Alcide's. "It's alright, everyone. Calm down. I regret cutting our evening short, but there truly are pressing things I need to discuss with Eric."

"I'm not leaving you here alone with him," said Alcide, voice low, on the cusp of being a growl.

Eric's eyes narrowed. "I'm not sure why you think you have a choice, wolf," he provoked. The way Sookie reached for Alcide sent the vampire's blood to boil, with a voracity that surprised even him. Suddenly, he very much felt like a fight.

Sookie stood, placing herself between the vampire and the wolves. A dangerous place to be, she knew well. "It's fine, really. Eric won't hurt me. Will you, Eric?" The vampire towered behind her; she could feel his body as a cool line. Now that vampire blood no longer colored her perception, she placed her finger upon it perfectly.

He felt like death.

Alcide stood as well, facing off with the vampire, also towering above Sookie's head. She felt as a flower, a fragile thing caught between two formidable mountains. The warmth of anger that emanated from him, prickles dancing across her skin and flashes of hot red thoughts were almost too much to stand. "Give me your word no harm will come to her."

Eric tilted his head, studying the wolf carefully. "Tell me. Has she done something you fear will anger me?" He looked between them as a judge would regard two defendants on trial.

"I just don't trust you, is all," evaded Alcide.

The vampire smiled, an acidic curl of lips that pulled a trickle of a growl from the werewolf.

"Fine. I give my word I won't do anything Sookie doesn't ask me to. Now run along, wolf. Your puppy love is making me sick."

The vampire watched with a cold amusement as Sookie exchanged hugs and handshakes with her guests, and a chaste wave to Alcide. They watched the wolves retreat to their vehicles from the front porch. Alcide paused, exchanging one last long look with Sookie, hand on the door handle of his truck. "I'll be alright," she mouthed silently, but it did little to relieve the expression of drowning upon the werewolf's face.

It seemed like the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life, to climb into his truck, and drive away from her.

"Ah, finally, some peace and quiet." Eric turned to Sookie, hands on his hips. "It's so good to have you _home_."

For the hungry look he paid her, vampire eyes glowing ravenous in the night, Sookie's heart dropped to her stomach as a stone.

**A/N: Thank you, THANK YOU, everyone for the positive response to this fic! As always, it's a pleasure and privilege to entertain you. :) If you enjoy my writing, I have EXCITING news about an original project! Check out my profile page for more details.**


	7. First Time For Everything

Chapter 6

Sookie turned to the vampire, quickly throwing up her favorite fortification: indignation.

"Eric Northman, I have never been so rude in my _life! _How dare you?"

Eric, however, remained eternally amused.

"Is that all you have to say? Far be it from me to expect something sweeter. For example, _thank you, Eric, for saving my house. _Or maybe even, _Eric, I missed you_."

"Eric, you wouldn't know _sweet _if it slapped you in the face."

"Au contraire. For I find you the _sweetest _thing I've ever tasted, since I was a human man and very fond of cakes with honey." He paused, seeming to call upon the memory, and perhaps finding it foggy after all these years. "It's been a long time, if you can imagine."

"You didn't _save_ my house," she hissed. "I bet you bought it from Jason for a song. I also bet if you hadn't snatched it up it would have just sat on the market indefinitely."

"I paid more than he was asking," protested the vampire, clearly enjoying their argument _far _too much. "And invested a _great _deal of money in bringing it back into its former glory, so that you may live in the style befitting my lady."

Sookie stabbed a finger into his chest, temper flaring hot as a grease fire. "I am _not _your _lady, _or anything else, for that matter."

Eric caught her hand in his, and with a sharp tug pulled her against the wall of his chest. "Well, that's mostly what I want to discuss." She squirmed as a strong arm encircled her waist, pulling her closer still. Her struggle came to no avail, and so she went still, not wanting to encourage the vampire any more.

However, he seemed to take it as the very opposite.

"In all this time, Sookie, I never gave up on you," he said quietly, turning her gaze up to his with a finger hooked beneath her chin. "Of all the people who claim to love you, I never stopped believing you would return."

"Alcide didn't give up on me." For the darkness that overtook his expression, she regretted her words as soon as they left her mouth. _Shut up, Sookie! _She scolded herself_. Remember what you told yourself_, she reminded.

_Be smart._

_Be brave. _

_Calm the fuck down_.

"At my behest, I assure you."

Eric didn't actually sound so sure.

When the vampire released her Sookie stumbled, not expecting to gain her freedom so soon. The pair glowered at each other, and the cold in Eric's eyes chilled her to the bone. "This isn't going as I'd planned," he confessed. "But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Things never do, with you."

"You thought I would grovel?"

The slightest smile tugged at the corner of his well-formed mouth. "I might have entertained a fantasy or two of you on your knees."

Sookie wanted to slap his face, no matter how beautiful it was. But she was proud of herself, for this time she remained collected, standing upon the front porch with arms crossed, silent in her disapproval of his crass jokes.

Large hands spreading wide in apology, Eric offered, "Can we start over? Let's go sit in your lovely new living room like civilized beings, and you can tell me where you've been."

Sookie didn't trust him in the least.

"I need to clean up the kitchen," she said. "We can talk in there."

She disappeared into the house, and Eric followed. He could see that she'd gone all out for the family Herveaux, and he could not stop the slightest sting of jealousy for that ritual of the living: sharing a meal around a table.

"Why were they here?" he asked, leaning on the smooth wood of the new countertops.

Sookie paused in putting fixings in a glass container, unsure that she wanted to disclose the latest details of her life to the vampire. But he would find out, one way or another. He always did.

"I'm going to work for Herveaux and Son," she disclosed sparingly.

Eric scoffed. "Now why would you work, when I would give you anything you could possibly want?"

"Because this is the 21st century, if you haven't noticed. I really think you _haven't _noticed. And unmarried women work to support themselves. Married ones too, I'll add."

Eric's expression darkened slightly. "And what service will you be providing for the firm of Herveaux and Son?"

"Detective. Supplies are going missing from a job site. It needs to stop."

"Ah. How troubling."

He didn't seem troubled in the least.

"So, my fair Sookie. Are you going to tell me where you went?"

"My fairy godmother Claudine kidnapped me," she answered without pause. "She took me to Faery as a sort of…mail order bride. The royal blood thins. Niall needed new flesh to bear a royal heir."

Eric's eyes narrowed for the prospect. Perhaps not simply because she'd been taken against her will, but because another party dared make plans for _his _telepath.

The Viking did not intend to share.

It was not without calculation that Sookie disclosed her whereabouts. Should any of her fey relatives appear nearby with the intention of capturing her again, she couldn't care less if Eric acted on his vampire instinct and drained them dry.

"How did you escape?"

"The rebels helped me clear the portal. You ever catch any of them stalking the forest round here, feel _free _to have a bite."

"Did they treat you badly?"

"Not exactly. I was pampered with all the fanfare due a fairy princess. But none of it was my choice. It takes the fun out of being…alive."

There was a lull in their conversation as Eric watched Sookie put away leftovers in the new refrigerator. It was a special replica of antique style; she knew it had cost a fortune.

"Eric, I want you to sell me this house back." She figured she might as well get it out into the open.

Smiling pleasantly, the vampire shook his head to the contrary, looking around the fine kitchen as though there were a damn thing he could do with it. "No, I quite like it."

Sookie's jaw tensed as she held her tongue, resisting the insults she wanted to fling his way.

"My family's lived in this house for nearly two hundred years, Eric. It's rightfully mine. Just let me buy it back from you."

"I know Jason doesn't have that money anymore, sweet Sookie. Just what would you buy it with?"

As though she needed another reminder that she had nothing.

"I'm going to work," she said. "I may not have money now, but I will. I could get a mortgage from a bank, like normal people do."

"Or, you could stay here for free, and live like a queen. My queen."

She looked him straight in those electric blue eyes. It was a little empowering to know she was the only human around for miles that could. All the good it could do her.

"We both know there's no such thing as _free _with you. And, you're _not _the king. Bill is."

He smiled a smile that was somehow both predatory and titillating.

"For now."

Sookie pursed her lips, a single eyebrow raised. "I don't think _King_ Bill would appreciate such seditious statements coming from one of his sheriffs."

The vampire before her laughed. He'd missed this feisty little blond and the funny things she said. Even when she wasn't _trying _to be funny, she was a constant source of amusement. "Are you going to tell on me, sweet Sookie?"

"Not if you let me have my house back."

"That's in _your _hands. Be mine, Sookie, and all this," he gestured to the house, "Is yours again."

**OIOIOIO**

Alcide gripped the steering wheel to the point of making it creak. He felt wild and helpless, leaving Sookie alone with that monster. He'd never wanted to make a 180 in the middle of the road so badly in his entire life. What if she needed help? What if Eric…

He howled with anger, pounding on the steering wheel.

Knowing what he must do, knowing too that maybe it was foolish, he flashed his lights at his father's truck up ahead. Jackson Herveaux slowed and pulled over to the side of the road, Alcide parking behind him. The werewolf flew from the cab of his truck.

"Son…" Jackson warned, stepping out of his own cab. He knew that look in his boy's eyes. He knew Alcide was about to do something very noble, and probably not in his own best interest. He'd made it a past time with that bad apple Debbie. Though Sookie seemed a completely different animal, the last thing Jackson wanted was his boy getting hurt. Again.

"I can't leave her alone," said Alcide, voice guttural, nearly a growl. "She's too fragile. She's too good. He'll eat her alive."

"He'll tear _you _to pieces," argued Jackson, gripping Alcide's shoulders. "That little girl packs more punch than her package lets on, boy. She clearly knows how to handle herself with Eric Northman. Let them be. Call her in the morning."

Jackson found himself giving this advice, even as he himself found it extremely hard to leave Sookie at the vampire's mercy.

Alcide, stubborn as ever, shook his head no. His eyes glowed in the shadows of the night, betraying the strong emotion that roiled within. "I'll hang back in the woods. I'll just listen. Just in case…"

She screams.

Jackson shook his head. "Want me to go with you?"

"Nah. One wolf is enough. Go on, you guys get back to your hotel. I'll catch up with you in the morning."

Alcide kissed his mother, who looked upon him with a worried but knowing expression, before disappearing into the shadows of the woods.

"You ever think we raised him to be _too _noble?" Jackson asked, rubbing the back of his neck in a gesture of worry.

Charlotte hugged her husband around the waist, listening to her boy fly through the woods, until the sound of his fleet footfalls could be heard no more.

"I think we did a fine job."

She suspected Sookie might be worth just such a gesture of heroism.

**OIOIOIO**

She watched him with a cautious eye, as Eric moved from his place at the counter, closing upon her slowly. He circled as a shark with its prey, deadly, disorienting, completely sure of himself.

"I can't do that."

"You can. You should, if you know what's good for you. You need protection, Sookie. Or else sooner or later, someone very bad is going to make you do things you don't like."

"Like you, now?" she couldn't help but point out.

"There are much worse vampires than me out there, lover," he assured her. Quick as lightning, the vampire leaned over Sookie, a sinewy arm on either side of her. "Much less attractive too." She watched with horror as he leaned down towards her, guessing very well what he wanted.

He attempted to steal a kiss, of which the telepath evaded, offering only cheek.

_Not _what Eric wanted in the least.

Smooth as ever, he redirected his onslaught, ghosting kisses down her neck. Sookie shuddered. She hated it and couldn't help it, all at the same time.

"What happened to you, Sookie?" whispered the vampire. "What happened to that hot blooded little blonde that marched into my office and kissed me raw before Russell Edgington could try to kill me?"

He couldn't feel her emotions through the blood bond anymore, and he found the absence an aching hole in his breast. He did not like it.

"Nothing," she hissed, hot tears welling in her eyes. "I'm just tired of people, of men, trying to take something from me that I don't want to give."

"Are you in love with the werewolf now?"

She paused just a moment, a single damning moment. It was enough in the vampire's eyes as a full brass band marching by with a banner that read _Sookie Loves Alcide!_

The fact was that she wasn't really sure, but she wasn't sure on the side that was _probably yes_.

She didn't really want to articulate that to this deadly vampire that had her in his grasp.

"I don't know."

"I think you do," growled Eric, strong hands upon her waist pulling her flush against his torso. Sookie gasped, a hand upon the flat of his pectoral attempting to keep him at bay.

"You're hurting me!"

"Am not. We both know you're tougher than you look."

She didn't know about that. She did know she would have bruises tomorrow. If there would be a tomorrow.

"You think I'm in love with Alcide just because I'm not falling over myself to let you own me?" she demanded, putting a little extra spice in her tone for good measure. "Someone's a little insecure."

_Good girl, Sookie, _she coached herself. _Divert him._

"I did expect our reunion after so long to go differently, lover. _Much differently_."

Sookie turned her head to the side, hair spilling over her shoulder in the most distracting way. "You want me to love you, but you've never made a gesture of true love, Eric. You've only ever just tried to own me."

These words took Eric aback in the most surprising way. Who would dare to say such a thing to him, but for Sookie? It was as refreshing as it was infuriating.

"You wouldn't call renovating your ancestral home to its finest glory a gesture of love?"

"You bought the house thinking I came in the package, like a doll in a box."

"I thought it would make you happy." In a moment of unguarded expression, Sookie read true confusion written in his intense blue eyes. She couldn't help but wonder if Eric had chosen someone besides Alcide to do the work, if perhaps it would have made her very happy with Eric. Was her heart so fickle?

She didn't think so, but in that moment of doubt she didn't know.

The vampire's hold loosened upon her. "Tell me what love is, Sookie, if it is not providing for your woman."

Sookie bit her lip, hard. This was a side of Eric she'd never before contended. And she realized in a way, that in the time Eric had lived as a mortal man, love was _exactly _that. Providing a home and hearth for your lady. Giving her safety, security, and bringing home the fat bloody carcass of a stag for the cook pot…

But they weren't living in the Viking age any longer, so Sookie spoke her mind.

"It's tenderness. It's sweet gestures made without expecting anything in return. It's sharing openly, everything, on an equal footing. I guess I just don't see you ever being capable of that."

"You won't even give me a chance to try?" Softly he brushed her hair away from her neck, fingertips gently tracing her pulse in a way that made her shiver.

His touch scrambled her brains even without a blood bond, and she thought _hard _to give an appropriate response. "How would I know you were being sincere now? That you weren't just putting on an act, until I gave you what you wanted?"

"Take my blood," he offered, "And you'll know everything."

Sookie, however, knew better than that. She shook her head no.

"It clouds my judgment. I'm free of it now and I'd like to stay that way."

Eric pursed his lips in a little pout. "Can I not at least have one kiss for my trouble?" He nudged the tip of her nose with his, and Sookie froze, taken unawares not by his request but the tenderness with which he delivered it. "For not giving up on you?"

"No," she protested immediately, pushing against his muscular chest. To no avail, as one could imagine. Eric leaned into her, pressing their bodies against the cabinets of the kitchen.

"One kiss, and I'll leave you in peace tonight."

Sookie paused, eyes darting everywhere around the kitchen, anywhere but his blue eyes that seemed so much softer than she'd ever beheld before. She noted his hands still at her waist traced small light circles over her ribcage, a light and distracting touch.

Dear Lord, she wanted him to stop, before she did something she regretted. Something she knew in her heart wasn't right, even while other parts of her body screamed quite the opposite.

"One kiss," she finally ceded. "And you will get out."

The vampire laughed slightly for the adamancy of her tone. Never in his life had a woman ever been so eager for him to leave her home, much less a woman held in _this _position.

"Yes, Sookie. One kiss, and I will go." His hand moved to cup the back of her head, long fingers sliding through her locks at the nape of her neck, evoking a shudder.

Yet one look into Sookie's blue eyes, and he could see her heart was not in it. That her heart was not even _half _in it, as she had been before, when Bill called her his. Despite this, the Viking was not quite willing to give up his hard won token of affection. In death as in life, he'd always enjoyed plundering that which did not belong to him, and _making _it his.

The tall Viking stooped from his lofty height to brush his lips against Sookie's gently, testing the softness of her mouth, the delectable fullness of her lips. She began to retreat, but he could not stand ending it so quickly. Eric held her to him, deepening the kiss. For a moment, Sookie allowed herself to be lulled. For the vampire certainly wasn't a _bad _kisser. It was just…not his lips she found herself wanting.

She pulled away. "That's enou—"

Eric crashed over her as a wave, enveloping her with his body, his mouth on hers. She struggled to no avail, and felt very much as though she were drowning. Desperate for air, for reprieve, Sookie's hand scrambled behind her on the countertop, a thrill of panic coursing through her till fingers closed around the item she sought. As Eric's long fingers smoothed beneath the strap of her sundress at her collarbone she rapped him on the knuckles like a naughty child.

Flesh sizzled, the air filled with the smell of burning vampire.

Eric withdrew with a hiss, fangs extended. He looked to his hand, regarding the small but bloody mark upon his knuckles with bewilderment.

"I said that's enough," scolded Sookie, brandishing the silver spoon.

Eric never would have guessed the Stackhouses were wealthy enough to dine with silver. Who knew? A family heirloom, no doubt.

"That burned."

"You'll be fine."

A small smile tugged at the edge of the vampire's mouth.

"I got carried away. You do that to me, Sookie. Your taste, your smell…"

She pointed the soup spoon at him as though she held a sword. He couldn't help but marvel at her bravery, even as he laughed a little.

The spoon shook, ever so slightly.

"Keep your word, Mr. Northman. Git."

"Chased from my own house by a spoon…" he sighed, slowly retreating for the door. "Never in my long life."

"First time for everything."

"You're full of surprises, as ever." Sookie walked him to the door. "I'll be seeing you, Ms. Stackhouse."

The vampire disappeared as a spectre into the night. Yet the tension did not leave Sookie's shoulders. Perhaps he'd given his word, yet she _knew _he could walk back through the door, or the window, any time he pleased.

Vampires. They never played fair.

**OIOIOIO**

Eric hovered in the air above the Stackhouse family farm, enjoying the sight from a bird's eye view. The lights from her home, and Bill Compton's across the graveyard, were the only ones around for miles. The great forest stretched on, dark and mysterious.

It was the promise of such forests that first drew the Viking to this new country. The vast swathes of wilderness that claimed so many human lives were but a perfect playground for a being such as him. He'd roamed the woods alone for years, fighting the great animals for fun, the fearless bears and wolves and wild cats, and terrorized the natives and mountain men too.

What paltry times these were. This modern age where wars were fought with the press of a button. Food came in a plastic package on any corner; humans had no idea what it really meant to _fight _for survival.

Yet Sookie, for all her sweet sunniness knew such things. She may not admit it, but that girl was a fighter, through and through. She was familiar with the ways of the savage garden, and did not shrink from its splendor and horror. She stood her ground for her place in it.

On the verge of heading back to Shreveport, motion down below caught the vampire's eye.

He paused in the air, watching the scene unfold.

He couldn't believe the werewolf's gall, or his stupidity.

Alcide emerged from the tree line, making his way through Sookie's yard.

But it was when Sookie ran out from the shelter of the front porch to meet him that the vampire's blood set to boil.

"Sookie, are you alright? He didn't hurt you?"

Alcide couldn't stop himself from checking her over, looking for blood.

"I'm fine. Alcide, you can't be here right now, you have to go. Eric will—"

The vampire in question landed in the yard beside them, an expression of fury written across his stony features. "Eric will not be pleased," he finished Sookie's phrase. Alcide stood in front of Sookie, her small form disappearing behind his. "I would never hurt her, wolf. I can't make the same promise to you, though."

_No no no_, thought Sookie. This was a nightmare. This was exactly what she _didn't _want to happen between these two powerful supes.

A low growl emitted from deep in Alcide's chest, claws erupting from his fingertips.

"I think you were on your way home, fanger."

"I think you're trespassing, puppy dog."

"Stop!" Sookie ducked under Alcide's outstretched arms to stand between the two for the second time that evening. "This is insanity. Stop right now!"

"Go back in the house, Sookie," both supes advised. Blood ran high, hackles raised, both knew that neither could walk away now.

She was so mad she could have slapped them both for this macho male bravado.

The supes faced off as old west gunfighters, tense and thrumming as plucked guitar strings, waiting for the other's move. It was the vampire who broke first, bypassing Sookie fast as a bolt of lightning. The sounds of a great brawl filled the night, but Sookie could barely keep straight their blows. The pair tumbled and fought, and soon disappeared into the shadows of the woods.

"No!" Screamed Sookie. "No no no stop!"

Against her better judgment, she followed the crashing sounds that came from the dark forest. The grunts and hisses and howls. As she made her way through the thick brush, tripping over unseen branches, scratching her legs on thorns and twigs, she prayed harder than she'd prayed in a long time.

She swore she heard the sound of a felled tree hitting the ground, a thunderous _crash _shaking the earth.

In a panic, she ran towards the sound.

She did not find them until upon the edge of Bill Compton's property, the blinding glare of floodlights inundating the edge of the yard with beams shining upon the battered pair. A seemingly whole squadron of guards dressed in black combat gear surrounded the brawlers, assault weapons trained unwaveringly upon them.

"Oh dear Lord!"

Alcide's arm hung at a strange angle at his side, broken, dislocated, or both. Blood spilled from a cut at his temple, and other places too.

A set of nasty claw marks raked down the side of Eric's face, splitting his skin all the way to his chest. In places Sookie could clearly see bone. He too bled profusely from various other lacerations.

Both parties' clothes were tattered beyond repair, torn and blood spattered.

Sookie could barely believe they were alive.

"You're both under arrest," the man in charge informed them.

"It was just a friendly tiff, gentleman," said Eric, words laden with sarcasm.

"Tell it to the king."

The brawlers were dragged to their feet, and made to walk towards the well-lit mansion on the hill. When Sookie made to follow she found an assault rifle pointed her way. "We suggest you go home, Miss."

"I'm Sookie Stackhouse," she said, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes?" The guard didn't seem impressed.

"I want to talk to Bill…King Bill."

The title felt strange on her tongue.

The guard didn't seem to feel inclined to let her, until his earpiece buzzed with clearance. "Fine. Come on."

She walked ahead of the guard in black, marveling at the improvements Bill had finally made to the rotting plantation house. She supposed becoming King had its perks.

They walked in to the foyer in time to hear Bill's voice, pedantic and cultured, ever the Southern gentleman. "…what on earth were you two fighting about?"

Both sets of eyes turned to Sookie's entrance, as plants will turn towards the sun.

Bill followed their gaze, and his eyes widened with surprise for the sight before him. "Well well. I might have known."

Sookie curtsied, because she'd always wanted to have occasion for it. "I hear its _King _Bill now."

"Indeed. We all thought you were dead?"

"I didn't," Eric and Alcide answered in tandem, winning an unkind look from the guards with _very _big guns.

"I was just on a little trip, is all. Bill, this has all been a big misunderstanding. Please release them."

The king returned a narrowed gaze towards the motley pair, who were bleeding upon his floor.

"Brawling on the royal grounds isn't exactly an acceptable past time, Sookie."

"Everyone's just a little keyed up about…my return, is all. Bill, please?"

The king paid a hard look to Eric and Alcide. "Take them to the cells," he ordered.

"No!"

"Sookie, please, come speak with me in my office?"

She barely heard the request, caught in Alcide's gaze and the guards dragged him away.

Reluctantly, she followed the King to his office. It was appointed as one would expect a vampire to decorate, with dark wallpaper and sleek modern furnishings.

"My God, where _were _you?" demanded Bill immediately upon shutting the door.

"I was in Faery. My cousin Claudine…kidnapped me. I was held hostage for a bit. Some relatives wanted to marry me off. Time is different between the realms. It only felt like a month at most over there. Two years here. I escaped, as you can see."

Bill nodded sagely. "I can imagine how unsettled you must be."

Sookie resisted the urge to sit down on his fancy couch and cry.

"You could say that. Eric bought my house from Jason. He thinks he bought me with it." She paid Bill a pleading look. "You're King. You can seize his property and give it back to me?"

Bill sighed, easing down into his oversized leather arm chair.

"I wish it could be so simple, else I would, Sookie. How is Alcide mixed up in all this?"

"He's been a friend to me," was all she cared to say. "Eric doesn't like it."

Bill seemed to read the subtext between the lines just fine.

"Alcide seems like a good man. Honest and strong and true."

"Yes," Sookie agreed reluctantly.

"But a werewolf is no match for a vampire like Eric."

Sookie raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Am I the only one who noticed Eric's face?"

"He'll heal by tomorrow evening."

"So will Alcide."

She hoped.

"Have you sought legal counsel about your house?"

"Portia Bellefleur laughed me out of her office, if that's what you mean."

The King did not seem the least surprised.

"You will need someone who is an expert at navigating not only human law, but the supernatural as well. I have someone in mind. A sharp legal mind. May I contact him on your behalf?"

"He doesn't sound cheap. I…have nothing right now, Bill. I couldn't pay him."

"I will take care of all that. I just need your permission."

"Bill…I can't ask that of you. I—"

The King help up a hand in a silent plea. "I know I have hurt you, Sookie. I know you may never forgive me, and I loathe myself for it. Please grant me this small chance to make it up to you. Let me help you in this small way. You need help, and we both know it."

Sookie sighed, looking to folded hand in her lap.

"What's his name?" she asked, resigned.

"His name is Desmond Cataliades. He's a half-demon, and the best at what he does."

Reluctantly she nodded in agreement. "We'll see what he says, I guess."

"I will have him contact you as early as possible."

"Thank you." Sookie's gaze travelled around the expensively appointed office. It was dark. Classy. Intimidating, but very impersonal.

"How long are you going to keep them locked up?" she asked cautiously.

"I think they could both use the rest of the night to cool down," Bill advised. "Alcide can go when the sun rises. Eric, when it sets. You have my word."

Sookie sighed. "Feel free to keep him for a few nights if you want."

A royal eyebrow raised. "Is he harassing you, Sookie?"

"I have a feeling it hasn't even begun," she muttered.

"Perhaps you should find somewhere else to stay until this is all sorted out. Somewhere he cannot waltz into anytime he pleases? I could have a guest bedroom made up for you here. You would be safe."

Sookie pressed her lips. She knew the invitation was well meant, but she didn't want to stay in her ex-fiancé's vampire palace. "I think I'll manage. Thank you for the offer. Can I see Alcide before I go?"

"I think your presence in person would only inflame them more," said Bill. "He will be treated for his injuries. Our medic will set the arm. His own powers will do the rest." King Bill turned his computer screen towards Sookie. A camera with a bird's eye view kept the cells under surveillance. A man in white fussed over Alcide. He winced as they watched the arm being forced back in its rightful joint socket. Eric sat quietly in a corner of his cell, stony as the statue of Ramses, clearly plotting.

As his cold blue gaze turned up to the camera, as though he knew she watched, Sookie's heart raced with a sudden burst of fear. A little for her, but now? Mostly for Alcide.

"Is there such a thing as a royal decree for a vampire restraining order?" she asked.

"I could, technically, though I think it would only make Eric angrier. And wilier. We'll get back your house legally, Sookie. It will be the best way."

"If you say so."

The house was a good start, but she was a little worried about her soul. Where was the deed for _that_?

The telepath stood from her seat. She suddenly had the most acute feeling that she had some packing to do.

"Sookie?" called Bill as her hand gripped the doorknob.

"Hmm?"

"Those fairies you escaped from. Are they going to come looking for you?"

"I'm not sure," she answered honestly. "You find any snooping around, feel free to eat them."

"They are your kin." He seemed a bit horrified by her cold assessment.

The telepath shook her head bitterly. "After what they tried to do to me? No sir. They may look pretty on the outside, but they are nasty creatures and I'm glad they're dying out. Eat them all."

On that parting note Sookie left, and was escorted out the front door, and to the edge of the perimeter.

She walked the rest of the way in darkness alone.

**OIOIOIO**

**A/N: Thank you everyone for reading! I'm having so much fun writing this fic. :) Forgive the shameless plug, but… If you enjoy my writing, particularly my vampire stories, and enjoy a good action adventure/romance with a strong female lead, check out my profile page for a link to my first original book!**


	8. The Big Bad Wolf

Chapter 7

Sookie was surprised to wake that Saturday morning to the screaming sound of a circle saw ripping through wood in the front yard. She went to the window in her night gown, and the sight that met her eyes curled her toes with delight.

The temperature was already climbing into the eighties in the sunlight that beautiful Louisiana morning, and Alcide worked shirtless in the yard, board by board bringing about the shape of a small chicken coop. He looked completely healed from his misadventure the night before, not a scratch on him.

Relief for the sight washed over her, a release so intense that she had to steady herself with a hand on the window sill.

Unabashed from her secret vantage point, she watched the muscles ripple beneath his tan skin as he lifted boards and sliced them down to size with a Makita circle saw. She'd managed to keep her thoughts of the werewolf mostly pure, but at that moment she could not control the primal clenching of her gut and points lower, the telltale tingle and tightening of her nipples, the utter physical _longing _that accosted her unsuspecting person. It hit her with enough force that Sookie leaned against the window jam, her legs trembling, damningly weak. She dared imagine those sure hands upon her, gripping her thighs, her buttocks, lifting her up to…

_Stop it _she growled at herself, frustrated by this wanton turn of mind.

As though love weren't difficult enough, desire had to come marching in on the scene like an uninvited and exuberant guest, making a mess of things.

Yet Alcide was a werewolf, not a vampire. She hadn't drank his blood down like a magic potion, throwing her free will to the wind. This was all very _real_, she knew. Love, lust, all borne of two people who simply _liked _each other. She liked Alcide for who he was, his sense of humor and honor. She liked the way he talked, the sweet things he said and meant them. She liked his smile, and well…she liked his body. So what?

She shook herself a little, quelling a shudder, a hot blush blooming across her cheeks and chest.

So _fucking _what?

Sitting at her vanity to brush out her hair, Sookie fingered the perfect ebony curl upon her dresser, tied prettily with a green ribbon. She'd retrieved it secretly after sweeping up after his haircut, keeping it safe as a holy object, a small reminder of what they'd shared there on the porch.

She was in _trouble._

After their close call last night, she knew they should stop while they were ahead. That she should send him home, and that she should face Eric alone.

She didn't think Alcide would let her.

And the darkest little truth—she didn't want to let him go. The feelings roiling inside her were beautiful and wild and bright and for once they felt _right_—she didn't want it to stop.

Sookie put on a dressing gown and headed down stairs, checking on the chicks in their little heated bin. They were growing so fast, and seemed to be in a kind of _awkward _stage, feathers replacing the baby down, leaving them looking a bit scraggly. They were ridiculously cute, and darted forward enthusiastically when she offered a handful of food, pecking greedily at her palm though it was the exact same feed as in their bowl. Even chickens appreciate a meal served with a little love.

Sookie made coffee and continued to watch Alcide through the window, the progress continuing. It seemed it was destined to be a small structure, perfect for two chickens. Usually she would have taken coffee out to him, but she didn't quite want to break the spell yet. She had an idea for lunch, which because she'd slept in after the previous night's excitement, would be arriving soon.

**OIOIOIO**

So entrenched in his work was Alcide, he did not notice the scent of Sookie until she was nearly upon him. He crouched before the little coop, measuring the hole where the nesting box would go. "Hey, handsome," she said, combing fingers through the moist curls at the nape of his neck. The action elicited a shudder to course through him, her touch sending his heart to race.

He looked up to find her radiant as ever in a yellow sun dress, two baskets in her arms. From one a telltale _peep peep_ rose from its swaddled lining. From the other, the delicious smell of good food, something his high-octane metabolism had been demanding for more than an hour now. Healing his mangled arm had taken up a lot of energy. It was still a little sore, but virtually like new.

"Hey, beautiful," he countered, rising to his feet. "What's in that picnic basket, little girl?" A smile broke as he took a bit too much delight in playing the big bad wolf. For his version of Red Riding Hood with Sookie would decidedly be shelved in the _adult _section.

"I don't know, Mr. Wolf. Maybe you better put down that tape measure and come find out?"

Alcide's stomach grumbled with a resounding _YES_! Amused, Sookie glanced from rippling abs to meet Alcide's eyes. She fought _very hard _to just look at his eyes, with the shirtless werewolf before her. "Something tells me this isn't to OSHA standard," she jested, gesturing at his bare torso.

"You don't like it?" he teased right back, flexing his muscles playfully in a way that made Sookie's cheeks burn. With a chuckle Alcide leaned in close to take a look at the chicks in her basket. They nestled in the corner of the basket lined with cloth, at ease, half asleep. He smelled of sawdust and musk, a heady masculine scent that caused Sookie's knees to weaken, oh just a _little._

Perhaps more aware of her reaction than was fair, with half a smile, Alcide retrieved his cotton t-shirt, pulling it on.

_Thank God_ thought Sookie.

"Where are we taking this delicious smelling basket?"

"There's a clearing with a huge live oak tree yonder," said Sookie, gesturing with her chin towards the back of the house. "I thought we'd spread a blanket and enjoy the afternoon shade."

"Perfect."

Alcide took the heavier basket (pure coincidence, of course, that it was the one filled with food) and the pair trekked off across the yard, through a tree line and over a broken fence, to a meadow that once had been a farm field. The tree in question loomed across the meadow, a behemoth that Alcide figured to be at least two hundred years old. Its great branches stretched long and vast, some so heavy that they dipped down to rest on the ground before ascending towards sunlight once more.

Sookie spread a red and white checked gingham blanket in the shade, the soft grass making for a lovely cushion beneath their bodies. The treasures within the basket unloaded. Fully involved ham sandwiches on homemade bread, cheese, fruit, a gallon of sweet tea over ice, and slices of pecan pie left over from their dinner party for dessert.

They feasted heartily, and the chicks explored at their feet, running two and fro after bugs in their own search of a meal. However, it was their first encounter with grass, and after trying the tall green stuff once the baby birds quickly ran back to the safety of their mother, chirping plaintively. They laughed at the birds' antics, watching them with delight.

By dessert the chicks had settled in their own corner of the blanket by Sookie's feet, panting a little in the Louisiana heat. She poured them a capful of water, into which they dipped their little beaks. Alcide imagined the young things rolling their eyes as he broke off a piece of pecan pie with his plastic fork, offering it to Sookie. She paused for long enough that he thought she would reject him, before with a lazy smile she closed her eyes and opened wide.

He hoped she wouldn't read his thoughts as he slipped the sweet morsel between her lips. Never in his life had he ever been so jealous of a pecan pie.

Sated as bears after a feast of salmon, the pair lounged upon their backs, sleepy and content. "I think you've ruined my work ethic for the day," he told her, unable to imagine getting up off of this blanket any time in the next hour. Alcide stretched and rested his hands behind his head, looking up at the dappled sunlight that filtered through the live oak's broad leaves. He couldn't remember the last time in his life he'd felt so _at peace, _not since he was a boy.

"After what you went through last night? You should be laid up and resting," she scolded.

"I'm fine."

She gave him a withering look. Had he been in wolf form, he might have retreated with tail between his legs.

"Please don't do that again," she said quietly.

"Don't defend you?"

"Don't risk your life for me. Don't take on a 1000 year old vampire in a fist fight you might not win."

The werewolf couldn't help but smile a little at the thought of Eric's pretty face flayed in four by his claws.

That had been a _priceless_ sight.

Knowing all too well that stupid look of pleased masculine pride, Sookie stabbed a finger in his chest. "I'm serious."

He noticed the beginning moistness of tears in her eyes, which gave birth to a new emotion. Panic. Last thing he wanted was to make Sookie cry, especially not on a day as beautiful as this.

"C'mere, pretty girl." He pulled her to rest in the crook of his arm, and there was a certain relief in snuggling up against Alcide's broad chest, a hollow in his shoulder seemingly fabricated just perfectly for the curve of her head. "I'm sorry. But the thought of leaving you alone with him drove me crazy, I couldn't do it. I care about you too much."

Sookie snuggled closer, her bare foot twining with his. "Well, brawn isn't going to be the answer. We're going to have to outsmart him."

The werewolf nodded. She had a point, as usual.

"Scary thought."

"Isn't it though? We've got a start. Bill is going to contact some hotshot lawyer on my behalf about getting the house back."

"Who?"

"Desmond Cataliades."

Alcide had heard of him in the world of supes. He had a reputation as a lawyer who rarely lost.

"That is a good start. I hope you won't think this is too forward, but I also think we should get you out of this house until its yours again."

"Where will I go?" she asked shyly.

"Well, you're about to start work in Shreveport. Why don't you come stay with me?"

As though _work _is the only reason you want her to stay with you, wolf, he chided himself.

"I don't want to put you out," she protested, ever the polite southern lady.

The werewolf laughed a little, kissing the top of Sookie's head. "Baby, I've been driving out here every day to see your sweet face. It will cut down my commute."

A long pause passed. Enough time that inexplicably Alcide thought she would say no.

"For a little while, then. I'll get out of your hair when I get my first paycheck, I promise."

Alcide smiled. "If you want. But you can stay as long as you like."

"What about the chickens?"

"They'll be very happy in my back yard. Honest. I'm just outside the city limits, it will be perfect."

Feeling fuzzy inside for the thought, Sookie shifted her weight, the line of her body completely molded to his. Her fingers wandered to his shoulder, tracing the lines of his muscles down his arm, the delicious arcs and dips beneath his golden brown skin. It was as though last night had never happened.

"I didn't know werewolves could heal as quickly as vampires," she said.

"Some of us can," said Alcide humbly. He didn't like blowing his own horn, but his powers burned a step above most weres he'd met. It was a secret he kept to himself in Shreveport. His fleeting contact with the local pack had not exactly been pleasant. If push came to shove, it could only work in his favor that they underestimate him.

Sleep tugged at her eyes, her full tummy now demanding a nap. "You're so _warm_,"she sighed.

"Cher, it's over 90 degrees out here."

"But I'm still cold inside," she whispered. "You make it go away."

With a solemn expression she could not see, Alcide glanced down at the top of her head, the line of her cheek and upturned nose. Her breathing changed, and he realized she was falling asleep in his arms. The lead weights in his own eyelids told him it was a good idea.

OIOIOIO

The pair did not wake from their slumber until late afternoon, the golden light heavily slanted across the field. They slept so heavily, so contentedly, that they barely moved from their places in each other's arms. Lazily Sookie checked to be sure the chicks had not wandered too far, and found them still at the foot of the blanket, still looking at the grass with reservation.

Curiously, Sookie found she was actually sweating a little, the usual chill she'd been living with seemingly gone. The telepath let out a little laugh of joy, rousting the werewolf from his slumber.

"What…"

"I'm warm," she said, smiling brightly. "Finally, I'm warm!" To demonstrate she slipped her hand beneath his shirt. Where usually frigid hands would have made him howl, there was only skin, the warm skin of her sweet small paws upon him. Still half asleep, Alcide forgot restraint, growling with approval in a low and primal sound that tugged at the lizard part of Sookie's brain.

As though suddenly realizing her trespass, she snatched her hand away, the memory of his hot bare skin beneath her fingertips a haunting sensation. "Sorry."

"Don't be."

Alcide turned on his side, leaning over Sookie in a way that reminded her how _large _this man was beside her. She wanted to reach up, to smooth her hands over the expanse of his broad chest, to measure him in hand spans as one would a prize stallion. The werewolf could sense her desire, it clouded the air around them as the headiest of perfumes. He lifted a hand to slowly trace her fine features, the line of her brow, the pert little upturn of her cute nose, and the soft curve of her lips. Sookie sighed, closing her eyes with a smile, surrendering to his touch. She couldn't imagine a more perfect day, than laying here with Alcide beneath the live oak that had been there as long as her own family had occupied this land.

The werewolf couldn't help but take her serene expression as permission. His fingertips explored lower, traversing the line of her throat, feeling her heartbeat thrumming beneath the pads of his fingers. Perhaps the sweet blood coursing beneath her skin did not attract him as it would a vampire, but the heat and smell of her skin was nearly too sweet to bear. Had he been in wolf form, he mused, he may have been tempted to take a bite.

Sookie shivered as he traced the straps of her sundress, across her clavicle, and around the neckline. Lazily she opened her eyes, skin slowly set afire by his touch. If he didn't kiss her soon, she mused, she might spontaneously combust. A welcome change from the eternal chill she'd been living with inside.

As though he were the mind reader, Alcide leaned down slowly, touching his lips to hers in a kiss that was soft and achingly sweet. A low groan emitted from deep in his chest; it was something he'd wanted to do since the first day he'd laid eyes on her. Sookie's fingertips combing through his dark curls sent a shiver marching down his spine, her hand at the base of his neck pulling him to her. The kiss deepened, Sookie opening the moist hollow of her mouth to his exploring tongue. As her leg entwined with his Alcide shifted, leaning his large frame over her, engulfing her in his arms. Sookie moaned with abandon, at that moment very much wanting to fall into this man, to disappear from the world in his embrace. A strong hand squeezed her hip, her curve disappearing beneath the breadth of his paw as he pulled her against him.

Moving of their own accord, Alcide's hands travelled lower, toying with the seam of Sookie's dress, teasing the smooth skin of her thigh, squeezing the taut flesh appreciatively. Remembering himself, that no matter how long he'd wanted her, watched her with longing, fantasized about this moment, that this was only their second kiss, he quickly withdrew. "Sorry," he sighed between kisses, returning his hand to the safe zone of her waist.

"Don't be," she mirrored his earlier assurance with a small smile. The werewolf watched her with some wonder, as she sat up, long blond hair tousled from his affections in way he found ridiculously sexy. Gingerly she scooped up the chicks from their corner of the blanket, placing them in their basket in the grass. They peeped with a little protest, before settling back down into the soft cloth lining, pecking at some food crumbles and winking off to sleep again.

The werewolf thought he must be dreaming, as he watched Sookie draw her pretty dress up over her head, revealing the smooth expanses of her bare skin between pale pink bra and panties, which _barely_ concealed her most secret and sacred treasures. His eyebrows raised high as she advanced upon him, mouth suddenly dry as she gripped the hem of his shirt. "Sookie, baby…are you sure this is what you want?"

He didn't want her to feel pressured, to regret going too quickly. He'd waited this long—dear Lord, he would wait as long as she needed, so long as this was _right_.

The telepath smiled, tilting her head pensively in a gesture that sent her flaxen hair cascading down. It caught the afternoon light as spun gold.

In that moment she was so beautiful it _hurt._

"You know, this is the first time in my life that I've been with a man that I truly, _genuinely_, wanted, all on my own. When I was a little girl my great uncle Bartlett took advantage of me. Bill tricked me into wanting him with his blood. So did Eric. And I was kidnapped by my fey relatives to be forced into a marriage I never asked for. So yes, Alcide, I absolutely want this. I want you. I'm falling in love with you, and God help me, I don't know how to stop."

Alcide's heart felt as though it might burst, filled with a medley of emotion so powerful that his hands shook. It was the urge to tear that uncle to pieces, and Bill, and Eric, and any fey that might think they could take her to do with as they wished, mixed with love for this brave and beautiful woman, and the desire to protect her, to know her, to claim her. "Don't stop," he groaned, quickly disposing of his shirt and pulling her back into his arms. "I love you, Sookie. I feel like I've loved you all along." He fell upon her with a barrage of kisses and caresses, exploring her skin, unable to get enough. There was beauty in this complete surrender, and she let him do what he would, loving every moment of his strong hands upon her, divesting their bodies of their cloth trappings until they lay bare as the days they were born together on the gingham blanket.

"You're perfect," he sighed against her skin between kisses, delving his tongue into the hollow of her throat, and travelling lower. She thought she might die of desire as his lips closed upon her nipple, teeth teasing the taut point in a way that seemed to pull a fiery string right through her, tied between her legs. "You're so beautiful, Sookie."

Her own hands travelled reverently over the curves of his muscles, hard mounds of flesh cased in feverishly hot skin. "You're the beautiful one," she insisted. "I can hardly tear my eyes from you. I may never be able to stop touching you again," she teased, squeezing the taut round of his buttocks.

"Good," he growled with a smile Sookie happily likened to more of a baring of teeth. She wanted Alcide to devour her whole and lick the bones clean. It seemed he was well on his way, the werewolf kissing a hot wet line down the center of her body, pausing to graze teeth over the lovely round of her tummy, the crest of her hip bone.

She didn't expect him to traverse any lower. It was a thing Bill had never seemed to enjoy doing; she'd come to assume it only happened in her bosom buster romance books. But when Alcide descended upon the juncture of her legs with a hungry tongue and a low rumble of delight from deep in his chest—Sookie had never fathomed such _bliss_. It did not take long for her to near the edge, and she begged, "Please not yet, Alcide. I want you, I _need _you inside me."

Alcide's dark head lifted from between her legs, licking his lips as the wolf who drank the cream—and perhaps ate the cow too. "You can have both," he assured her with a rakish smile that sent her heart racing even faster.

"Come back here," she beckoned with a smile and a finger crooked. It was all it took to persuade him. She marveled at his beauty, watching the muscles of his arms and chest move as he crawled back up her body. The bulge of his manhood trailed after, the silken head sliding against the inside of her thigh, rubbing against the slick moisture of her sex, sending the most mind-scrambling sensations through her body. Sookie reached down to stroke him, and couldn't help but widen her eyes at the length and breadth her wandering hand found. Alcide chuckled a little at her expression of _how is this going to fit? _The caveman part of his brain _maybe_ shook his club in a prehistoric victory in being the biggest, if not the baddest, of Sookie's lovers.

"I'll go slow," he assured her with a kiss. "I'll be gentle."

She trusted that he wouldn't hurt her. She wanted him inside her more than she could remember ever wanting anything or anyone. She nodded, nuzzling into the bend of his neck. "_Please_?"

She didn't have to ask again. Sookie gasped as the tip breached her entrance, sliding between her folds, stretching her body to accommodate his manhood. That low bestial rumble escaped from deep in his chest as slowly he slid in and out, pressing a little farther every time, until he lay sheathed completely inside her. She was so damn _tight _that Alcide felt almost light headed with pleasure. He'd never imagined she could feel this good. _So this is what its like to make love with someone who doesn't fuck everyone and their brother behind your back_. Sex, love, and trust. It made for the most intoxicating cocktail.

He began moving slowly inside her, sliding in and out, stroking her inside in places Bill had never been able to reach, stretching her in a way that was almost painful but oh so sweet. She kissed his neck and chest between gasping sighs, grazing the bulge of his arm muscles with her teeth. He left her breathless when he pushed to the very end of her cavern; making her feel utterly complete in a perfect, animal, way.

She squealed with delight when he flipped their bodies so that she was on top, guiding her with hands upon her hips. This angle was different, sharper, more intense. Alcide only threw another log on the fire when he licked his thumb, a mischievous glint in his eyes, and rubbed the little pink button between her folds _slowly. _Maddeningly slow, making smooth slick circles with the blade of his thumb that caused her legs to tremble. She slowed to ride him at the pace of his strokes, clenching around him with a dizzying strength, a tightness that evoked such pleasure that he thought he might die, albeit a happy man.

She quickened the pace little by little, impaling herself a little harder with every stroke. _The illusive G spot_ she thought with a blissful little smile. She'd thought it was a myth made up by Cosmo magazine. Alcide was rewriting the book of everything she ever thought she'd known.

Alcide knew she neared the edge, as did he. She had a way of sliding just to the tip and back over him that was maddeningly, blissfully, perfect. He watched her face with unabashed fascination, licking his lips, nodding in encouragement as he felt her body clench around him in the first spasms, the expression of release and ecstasy written across her beautiful features. "That's right. Come for me, baby."

"Oh!" she cried out, almost as though she was surprised, her secret cavern spasming hard around him with such tightness that it brought him along too. He released inside her with a blinding rush of pleasure, coming hard enough to bow his back, lifting her from the ground as he drove deeper inside her. "Sookie," he growled, a sound so low and primal that raised the hairs at the back of her neck in the most delicious way.

Panting, boneless, Sookie fell back into his arms, laughing a little in disbelief as she kissed his chest, fingers combing through the curly dark hair that dusted his pectorals. "Oh my God."

Alcide smiled, speechless in bliss. His fingers combed clumsily through her hair, hands shaking a little.

Sookie didn't know how much time passed before she perked up upon his chest. Minutes. Hours. "We didn't use a condom," it dawned on her, brain still addled and fuzzy with pleasure. She wasn't so alarmed as perhaps she should have been. Her inner thighs were slippery and moist from his seed and she liked it.

"Born wolves and humans don't often manage to make babies. It's kind of rare," said Alcide, and she noticed a shadow of regret in his eyes. He couldn't help but like the thought of Sookie's ripe belly swollen with their cubs. It was a thing he'd always been more than a little afraid of with Debbie. There were a million signs he could look back on now, and know he should have walked away from that train wreck long ago.

"What about born wolves and part fey?" she asked, a twinkle in her eye.

Alcide seemed to think it over. "Sparkly wolf cubs with wings. Now _that_ would be…interesting."

The pair laughed and lounged some more, completely nude in the open air without a soul to care for miles around.

Pure bliss.

**OIOIOIO**

**A/N: Thank you everyone for your reviews, favorites, and follows! :) If you enjoy my writing, check out my profile page for a link to my first e-published original book!**


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